


Close to Home

by EchoInTheSilence



Series: Not Just Another Case [3]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Angst, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-08 09:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8838565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoInTheSilence/pseuds/EchoInTheSilence
Summary: She thought she was ready for anything. But this - this was the last thing she ever could have anticipated.





	1. The Victim

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.
> 
> Content warning: This story contains mentions and somewhat graphic descriptions of rape. Please use your own discretion in deciding whether to continue.

Her shaking hand took hold of the wooden doorframe, holding her upright as her legs threatened to collapse under her.

She took the first step down the stairs of her school, moving her hand to the cool metal rail. She could barely stand, but she had to keep moving. She had to get away, no matter what the cost. She couldn't stay.

Her feet hit the flat sidewalk. There was no rail left. She would have to try to walk on her own now. She wanted to run, but her body refused to cooperate.

She hadn't taken more than a dozen shaky steps before she felt someone touch her arm. She jumped away and lost the tenuous balance she had kept. Her legs gave out, plunging her towards the unforgiving pavement.

Arms took hold of her, and she tried, weakly, to fight him off. _No, not again, God, not again._ She became aware that he was saying something, over and over.

"It's me. It's me. It's okay. It's just me."

The voice finally cut through her fog. It wasn't _him_. It was her brother. She stopped fighting and went limp against him, clutching at his arms for support.

"Dear God," she heard him say. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I was - it - I was just -" she choked back a sob. "I was raped."

xxxxxxxxx

"You the officers from Special Victims?" one uniformed officer asked the two who had just climbed out of the unmarked car in front of the high school.

"Detective Benson. This is my partner, Detective Amaro. What have we got?"

"Probably nothing, but we figured we'd better call you in just to cover our asses. A senior punched out a teacher on his way out of school. School security called us, kid claimed the teacher he punched raped his sister. We think it's a cover but he's sticking to it, so we called you."

"Where's the sister?" Olivia pressed.

"Nurse's office. She was all over the place, freaked out when we got close to her, so we thought it best to isolate her until you got here."

Amaro noticed Olivia frowning and he knew why. The girl was practically a textbook victim profile but the officer was acting like there was no chance anything had actually happened to her.

"Liv, why don't you go talk to the girl, I'll talk to the brother, see what we've got."

She nodded. "Nurse's office is where?"

The officer pointed her in the right direction and she walked over to the door and tapped on it. "Hello?"

"Who's there?" The voice was weak, shaky.

"My name is Olivia Benson. I'm a detective with -"

"I know who you are," the girl interrupted. Olivia raised an eyebrow she was glad the young woman couldn't see. Had they had contact with this victim before?

"Can I come in?"

A brief pause. Then, "only you."

Olivia opened the door slowly, not wanting to startle her. As she stepped into the room, she got her first look at the girl huddled on the bed and her heart almost stopped.

"Oh my God."


	2. How I Know You

"Elizabeth Stabler?"

She lifted her head, and Olivia saw the tears swimming in her eyes. She nodded a little, but it wasn't necessary. One look at her face was all the detective needed to confirm the girl's identity.

In three steps, Olivia had crossed the room to take the distraught young woman in her arms. The girl sank into the embrace, and the detective could feel that her whole body was shaking. "It's okay now, sweetheart, it's okay. You're going to be okay."

"Olivia -" her voice broke off, and she clutched tighter at the woman's arms.

"You're safe now," she soothed. "I need you to tell me what happened, honey. Can you do that?"

"I'm scared, Olivia," she whispered.

"I know you are." She gently ran a hand down Elizabeth's back. "But I need you to talk to me. If you tell me what he did, we can put him away where he can't hurt you again."

She nodded against Olivia's chest. "I went to my locker to get my books after music practice, and Mr. Bakersfield said he wanted to talk to me about my grade in English. I know I have problems with that class so I -" she choked and let out a stifled sob. "I went into his classroom with him."

"That's okay, sweetheart. You thought you could trust him. That doesn't make it your fault."

"I leaned over him at his computer, and all of a sudden he just put his hand down my shirt and grabbed my breast. I pushed him away and I said no, just like Dad always told me to." Another choked sob. "He grabbed me by the shoulders, said that if I was going to be a bad girl I'd have to go sit in the corner for awhile. I tried to push him off but he was holding on too tight. He dragged me into the corner of the room. I just started screaming, I screamed so loud -" She gave a soft whimper. "No one came. No one came to help me. He pushed me down on my knees and he - he opened his pants. Then he pulled my mouth open and forced himself in. He said 'you even think about biting me and you'll regret it' and I was so scared to go against him. I just let him."

"You did what you thought you had to. It doesn't mean you wanted it." Olivia kept rubbing her back. The poor girl was a mess, and the last thing she needed was to feel that it was somehow her fault.

"He made me swallow - oh, God."

Olivia recognized the look on her face and got Elizabeth's head over the sink in the office just in time for her to throw up. She was shivering even harder now as Olivia held back her hair and rubbed her back.

"I'm sorry," she gasped when she'd finished.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart. I know you feel sick. That's normal." Glancing around the office, she spotted a small stack of paper cups. She took one and filled it, bringing it up to Elizabeth's lips.

The teen took a sip to rinse her mouth and drank down the rest. She started talking again, in a weak, shaky voice. "When he, you know, finished, even though I felt awful, I was glad. I thought it was finally over. Then he laid me down on the floor and pulled down my pants." This last admission seemed to finally break down the floodgates and she began to cry openly. Olivia pulled her close again, letting the girl sob into the lapel of her jacket.

"He raped me," she sobbed out. "Then he just told me to pull up my pants and get out, like nothing happened. Just before I left, he said that he knew grades were important to me, and that if I told anyone I would fail his class. I just wanted to get away. I walked out of school and Richard stopped me - he must have been waiting for me. He asked me what was wrong and I told him what happened and who did it. Then - I saw _him_. I couldn't think straight. I just shut down. The next thing I know my brother walks up and decks him. Please, Olivia, don't let him get in trouble. He was just trying to help me."

"I know," she soothed, still holding Elizabeth.

"You promise he can't hurt me again?" she whispered.

"I promise, honey. I promise."

xxxxxxxxx

"What's your name?" Amaro asked the teenage boy sitting in the office.

"Richard Stabler," he replied. A bell went off somewhere in the detective's head, but he couldn't place it so he ignored it in favor of the topic at hand.

"You told the officers who first responded that your sister had been raped."

"That's right. But they didn't take me seriously."

"I know." He sat down across from the boy. "But I will. Now, how did you know? Did you see anything?"

"She told me, and she wouldn't lie about something like that. She knows better; we both do. But even before she said it I knew something was wrong."

"Really? How?"

"Well, first of all she looked awful when she came out of the school. Like she was going to fall over. And besides, I just _know_ these things. Elizabeth and I are twins. We have a connection I can't explain. I just got this awful feeling - I didn't know what was wrong, but I knew something was. Seeing her all messed up, and then when she told me, just confirmed it."

"Let's go back to her telling you. What exactly did she say?"

"She said she was raped. I asked her who, she said Bakersfield. Then I felt her just go stiff, and I looked behind me and he was there, just walking away like nothing ever happened while my sister was falling apart in my arms, and I just wanted to wipe that smug expression off his face. I don't actually remember hitting him. I mean, I know I _did_ , but I don't remember it. The next thing I remember is him on the ground and the school security officers rushing over."

"All right." Amaro nodded. "What happened next?"

"They brought me in here and called the cops. I wasn't going to say anything, but they started talking about assault and charging me and I was just so mad - I mean, Elizabeth's rapist would walk free while they arrested me for trying to defend her? Before I knew what I was doing I was blurting out that he was the one they should be arresting because he raped my sister. But once I said it, I couldn't take it back or they'd think I made the whole thing up. It would've thrown her credibility to the wind if she ever tried to report it, and I can't do that to her." He let out a slow breath. "Can I see my sister now?"

"My partner's interviewing her. I'll check and let you know."

xxxxxxxxx

A tap on the door startled both Elizabeth and Olivia. The detective looked up. "Who is it?"

"It's Nick. Can I come in?"

Olivia took one look down at Elizabeth, who was staring at her wide-eyed and furiously shaking her head. "No. I can't. I can't."

"It's my partner. He's not going to hurt you." She rubbed Elizabeth's back gently. "Tell you what. I'll go talk to him out in the hall, okay? He won't come in this room."

She nodded and slowly released Olivia from her death grip. The female detective stood and walked to the door. "Nick? Don't come in; I'm coming out."

"Okay," he called back.

She stepped out the door and was greeted by his serious expression. "What's up?"

"She's upset and scared, and I don't blame her. How the hell could they think she wasn't raped? One look at her face and I can see it." She sighed. "How about on your end?"

"Sounds to me like the brother just snapped. He claims he doesn't actually remember hitting the teacher, and I believe him. I'll see if I can talk the unis into letting him off with a warning. The bastard doesn't have a leg to stand on if he tries to press charges, not after what he did." He finally stopped his rapid-fire rant to take a breath. "Richard wants to see his sister."

"I've taken her statement, I don't see any harm in it. Bring him by - but," she added, "he only gets to see her if she says it's okay."

"Right."

"And then I want to get her to a hospital. I think she's in shock."

"Understood."

xxxxxxxxx

Richard had barely walked through the door before his sister was on him, arms wrapped tight around his waist. Her body still shook with her sobs and her terror as he pulled her close, holding her, whispering so quietly even Olivia, five feet away, couldn't hear him.

She saw Amaro signal to her over the twins' heads and carefully walked past them to meet him. "What's up?"

"I talked to the officers and they agreed not to charge Richard. Official report will say they decided to leave disciplinary action to the discretion of the school." He dropped his voice. "Unofficially, there's no way they'll get a conviction on this. As soon as the jury hears he punched his sister's rapist, he'd walk. Might not even be worth it to prosecute, and they don't want to waste their time. It was one punch, and he didn't do serious damage. They don't want to deal with the paperwork."

Olivia glanced over at the boy, still holding his sister tight and stroking her hair. "Good. Then he can come with her." She stuck her head back in. "Elizabeth?"

"Yeah?" she whispered. Her brother's head turned and the shock on his face when he saw her was evident, but to his credit he didn't say anything, didn't do anything to divert attention from his sister even for a moment.

"I need you to come to the hospital with me. I want to make sure you're okay."

Elizabeth's wide, frightened eyes met Olivia's. "Will I have to have one of - of _those_ exams?" She didn't elaborate. She didn't have to.

"It would be a good idea," Olivia replied softly. "It would help us catch him, but no one's going to force you to have one. I promise."

"I'll be right there with you," Richard whispered into her hair. "The whole time."

She finally nodded. "Okay."

"I'll take you two in my car, all right?" While she was worried about Elizabeth, she didn't think it was serious enough to need an ambulance, and being surrounded by strangers would probably not be helpful for her right now.

Elizabeth nodded again. She let up her hold on her brother but kept a death grip on his hand as Olivia led them both out to her car. She couldn't miss the way the girl shrank a little closer to her brother every time they walked near an adult male, and it tore at her. She would probably never be the same.

Amaro had beat them both out to the lot, but was standing back. "You go ahead," he told Olivia in an undertone. "I'll catch a ride with someone."

"You sure?"

"She doesn't want me in that car, I'm not going to be. It's that simple."

"Hey!" Richard was running over to them, apparently having already settled his sister in the car. "Amaro, right? Can you do something for me?"

"What is it?"

He had come to a stop and was frantically scribbling something on a scrap of paper which he shoved into Nick's hands the second he was finished. "Call my dad. Tell him to meet us at the hospital."

"Your sister okay with this?"

"She didn't ask me to, but I think it'll help. Please."

The younger detective glanced over at Olivia, who was nodding. "All right. I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone's aware - I will be using a form of break between passages that I'm familiar with, rather than trying to imitate the SVU title card. I just never seem to get that right.
> 
> I was going to add more to this chapter but since the prologue was so short I wanted to get this out there. Everything that was going to be in this chapter will be in the next one.
> 
> Please leave comments if you enjoy the story. I do make a point of replying to comments, and I love to hear what you think.


	3. A Father's Love

**"Daddy!"**

**"Hold on just a second, I have to answer this." He smiled down at his four-year-old son. One of the only good things to come out of the mess that had cost him his job was that he wouldn't miss his youngest son's childhood like he had for the other four.**

**He glanced down at the number and frowned a little when he didn't recognize it.** **_Probably a telemarketer._ ** **He flipped the phone open. "Hello?"**

 **"** **_Could I speak to Mr. Stabler, please?_ ** **"**

**"Speaking. But whatever it is, I'm not buying."**

**A sound came through that might have been a laugh. "** **_I'm not a telemarketer, Mr. Stabler. My name is Nick Amaro. I'm with the NYPD._ ** **"**

**"Police?" Instantly this Amaro, whoever he was, had Elliot Stabler's undivided attention. "What's going on?"**

**"** **_I'd prefer to discuss this in person. Can you come down to Mercy Hospital?_ ** **"**

**"In Manhattan? For God's sake, I'm in Queens. Is it really necessary?"**

**"** **_I think it is._ ** **"**

**"Fine. I'll be down there as soon as I can."**

**"** **_You need directions?_ ** **"**

**"No, I know where it is." He hung up, looking down at Eli again. "This better be important," he muttered under his breath.**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**"How is she?" Olivia looked through the window at Elizabeth, who was wrapped in a blanket and still clinging to her brother.**

**"She's in shock, that's why she's shaking so much. Fortunately there are no broken bones or other serious physical injuries. But I'd like to get my hands on whoever did this to her. She hasn't stopped crying since she was brought in."**

**"Believe me, doctor, that makes two of us."**

**"Liv." The detective turned her head to see her partner running down the hall. "I called the father about fifteen minutes ago, right after you left. He says he's on his way, but he's coming from Queens. It may be a bit before he can get here."**

**"What did you tell him?"**

**"Just that we need to talk and to meet me here. I figured the rest was best left for an in-person conversation."**

**"Good call."** **_And if Elliot knew why he was coming, he'd probably get himself in an accident speeding down here._ ** **"Have you done a rape kit on Elizabeth?"**

**"She won't let me." The doctor gave a slight shake of her head. "She understands why it's necessary, but she's terrified beyond reason. We got as far as putting her feet in the stirrups before she panicked."**

**"Poor kid," Amaro said sympathetically. "She probably has no clue who to trust anymore."**

**"I'm willing to bet she'll still trust her father," Olivia replied quietly. "We can try again once he's here with her."**

**He nodded. "Man, if that were my kid..." he didn't finish. He didn't have to.**

**"I know."** **_And you're not the first partner I've had that felt that way about cases like this. Only his worst nightmare just came true._ **

**xxxxxxxxx**

**It seemed like he had been out there forever. What the hell did they want from him that was so important he had to leave his son with a neighbor and come down to Manhattan?**

**"Mr. Stabler?"**

**_Finally_ ** **. "You Amaro?"**

**The younger man nodded. "Detective Amaro. And this is my partner --"**

**Elliot glanced behind Amaro almost automatically and then felt his heart miss a beat. "** **_Olivia_ ** **?"**

**Olivia hadn't expected to be surprised. She knew he was coming, after all. But knowing it had been one thing. Seeing him standing there in front of her, the face she had seen nearly every day for over a decade before he had suddenly dropped out of her life, was something else entirely.**

**She heard him gasp her name and swallowed hard, trying to get enough moisture in her throat to speak. "Hey."**

**A million questions swarmed through his mind. He finally managed to get out the one that encompassed most of the rest. "What's going on?"**

**"Mr. Stabler." Amaro's voice started Elliot; he'd all but forgotten the man was there. "We're here about your daughter."**

**"Elizabeth," Olivia added before he could ask.**

**"Lizzie? What about her? Is she in some kind of trouble?"**

**"No," Amaro answered, using the question to delay the news he really didn't want to give. No matter how many times they did this, it never got easier. "She's not in any trouble."**

**"Elliot." Olivia swallowed even harder this time before she spoke. "She's a patient here." She closed her eyes, unable to look at his face as she said the words that would shatter his world. "She says she was raped."**

**It was as though the floor had been pulled out from under his feet. He staggered backwards a few steps. "No. There must be some mistake. It's not her."**

**"I'm sorry," she said softly. Her eyes were open now, and the look on her former partner's face was enough to break her heart. "We know it's her."**

**"No," he whispered again. "Not my baby. No." He squeezed his eyes shut, and Olivia knew he was trying not to show his tears. "Why my baby? Why?"**

**"I don't know." Olivia took a step forward and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I don't know."**

**With a strangled gasp that might have been a sob, he turned towards Olivia and reached out for her. She stepped forward, letting him grab hold of her. Her own arms came up around his back as his head dropped to her shoulder. "Liv..." he choked out.**

**"Shh. I know." She felt his shoulders hitch under her hand, but he stubbornly refused to cry in public. He clung tighter to her, trying to draw strength from her strength.**

**With an incredible effort, he collected himself and stepped back. "Where is she? I need to see her."**

**"Of course. Come on."**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**Elliot staggered again when he saw Elizabeth huddled on the exam table. Until that moment, he had been trying to believe that this was a mistake, that something had been lost in translation, that she hadn't really been raped. But one look at her sent all that out the window. She was crying, curled in on herself, hanging onto her twin's arm like a lifeline. There was no question as to what had happened.**

**He nearly tore the door off its hinges, not waiting for permission to enter the room, desperate to hold his daughter. They both looked up, and Elizabeth's eyes went wide. "Dad?"**

**His throat was too tight to speak. Wordlessly, he opened his arms to her.**

**She moved faster than he would have thought possible, flying across the small room and into her father's embrace in a matter of seconds. He wrapped his arms tight around her as she clung to him and kept crying. "It's okay now, baby, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here. Shh, it's okay." He could feel how badly she was shaking. "You're safe now. No one can hurt you here. I won't let anyone hurt you, baby. I'm here now."**

**"Daddy --" she choked, and that was almost enough to send him over the edge. She hadn't called him that since she was eight. His little girl was terrified.**

**"No one is going to hurt you," he repeated fiercely, knowing that his assurances came too late. Someone had already hurt her, and he hadn't been there to protect her.**

**"Let's sit down, okay?" He could tell she was still shaky on her feet, and he wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold herself up. He slid onto the exam table, lifting her up with him, never letting up his embrace. He rocked her gently as she cried, whispering the same words over and over, agonized by how empty they were. There was nothing he could say to make this better for her.**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**"You can ask, you know."**

**Amaro looked over at his partner. "Ask what?"**

**"How I know our victim's father."**

**"Know him." Nick chuckled lightly. "That's one word for it. Not the word I would have used."**

**"What?"**

**"Liv, you** **_know_ ** **a lot of people. None that I've seen before have acted like you were the only person in the room the second they laid eyes on you." He met her eyes. "You two have a relationship?"**

**"In a sense," she said, a soft laugh escaping despite herself. "He once said he was the longest relationship I'd ever had with a man. He wasn't wrong."**

**"What do you mean?"**

**"He was my partner before you," she told him quietly. "We worked together for twelve years. We were practically family -- hell, he spent more time with me than with his wife. We propped each other up through every problem in the book." She put her face in her hands. "I had a really bad experience on a case once, so bad I didn't even want to talk about it. He followed me home and wouldn't leave me alone until I told him what was wrong, and then he stayed with me for two days taking care of me. That's just the way it was between us." She looked up at him, and her eyes were hard as steel. "I have to get this guy, Nick. I have to."**

**He tentatively reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, glad when she didn't pull away. "We'll get him, Liv. I'll make sure of it."**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**"Elliot." Olivia stood in the doorway, and he knew without another word that she wanted to talk to him.**

**He kissed his daughter's forehead. "I'll only be gone a second, okay? And I'll be right outside."**

**She nodded, reluctantly separating herself from her father, instantly reaching out for her twin's hand. Elliot followed Olivia out, never taking his eyes off his children. "What is it?"**

**She bit her lip. "We need to do a rape kit on Elizabeth. Then they can release her."**

**"You haven't done one yet?"**

**"They tried," she said softly. "She gave her consent verbally but freaked as soon as they put her feet in the stirrups."**

**He shook his head, eyes still fixed on Elizabeth. "My poor baby."**

**"I know it's a lot to ask --"**

**"Of course I'll be there with her. I'm not backing out because it's hard for me to see her like this. It's damn well going to be harder for her, and she needs me to be strong for her."**

**"I'll get the doctor."**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**Elliot's hand was white from his daughter's grip by the time the kit was finished, but she had let the doctors do what they needed to. Her face was covered with tears, which he gently wiped away.**

**"Can I take her home now?" Elliot's question was half a plea. He wanted his daughter in a safe, familiar place where he could take care of her.**

**"Detective?" The doctor looked over at Olivia.**

**"We'll need her to come down to the station to make a formal statement, but that can wait until tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll tell them to expect you so no one's surprised," she assured him before he could even bring it up. "For now, the hospital will give her some clothes and you can take her home to get some rest."**

**"Liv." His voice stopped her just before she left.**

**"Yeah?"**

**"Nail him good for me."**

**She tried to smile but couldn't make herself. "Don't worry. You know I will."**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mention of a bad case is a reference to the episode Undercover. Check out my oneshot "Pulling Back the Cover" for more on that.


	4. Pieces of a Life

Elizabeth hadn't said a word on the entire car ride home. Elliot had handed his keys over to his son so he could sit in the back with her, letting her rest against his shoulder as much as their seat belts would allow. Her tears had slowly dried up, but she couldn't seem to stop shaking. Her grip on him was tight, desperate for him to make it all better. If only he could.

He flinched a little when Richard clipped the curb on his way up the driveway, but he didn't say anything. This wasn't the time to get on his son about his driving.

"Come on, baby," he whispered once the car had come to a full stop. "Let's get you inside."

"I need to take a shower," she whispered. "Like right now."

"Okay, whatever you need." He opened the door, but she looked so lost that he took her hand as if she were a young child and walked her up the stairs and into the bathroom. "Just yell if you need anything, okay?"

She nodded silently. He stepped out of the bathroom and waited until he heard the water running, then called down the stairs. "Dickie!"

His son's head appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah?"

"Your brother is over at the Pattersons'. Can you go get him?"

"Sure. On my way."

"Let me know as soon as you're back. I want to have a conversation with Eli immediately."

"Got it."

He heard the door slam and turned his attention back to the bathroom, even though all he could hear was running water. Alone for the first time since this ordeal had started, he allowed a few tears to slip from his eyes.

That previous weekend, he had had a sobering conversation with his middle daughter. He couldn't help but think of it now.

_"Dad? Can we talk?"_

_"Of course, Kathleen." After years where she didn't talk to him about anything, he was always grateful when she initiated conversations. "What's this about?"_

_"It's about Lizzie."_

_"Is she in some kind of trouble?" His youngest daughter had always been the one child of the first four that he'd never really had to worry about._

_"Not exactly. It's - she thinks you don't love her as much as the rest of us."_

_"What?" He was completely taken aback._

_"I was surprised too. But it kind of makes sense. I mean, from the time she was little you were always worried about Maureen partying and not eating and all, me getting into trouble all over the place, Dickie hanging out with friends you didn't like."_

_"And I never had to worry about her. Why would that mean I love her any less?"_

_"Because you didn't pay attention to her. You made a point of spending time with Maureen and me to make sure we were on the right track. You spent time with Dickie just because he was your son. When you and Mom were separated, you'd take just him for a night or a weekend sometimes. You never gave her time like that."_

_"I didn't, did I?" he asked, feeling his heart sink inside him. How could he have so completely overlooked his fourth child? "How bad is it?"_

_"She was crying."_

_He dropped his head to his hands. "What can I do to make this right?" he whispered. It hadn't really been a question for Kathleen, but she answered anyway._

_"Make time for her. Take her out to dinner, maybe see a show with her or something. The same thing you did for the rest of us."_

The sound of the water shutting off brought him back to the present, and he realized his face was wet. He hurriedly dried his tears just in time for her to exit the bathroom and all but run into her bedroom.

"Dad! We're home!"

He nearly sprinted down the steps to intercept his youngest son. "Hey, Eli. Did you have a good time with Mrs. Patterson?"

"They have fun toys and I had pudding and apple juice for snack!" he said excitedly. Then his childish face folded into a pout. "But why did I have to go?"

"Eli, listen to me, okay? Your sister Lizzie is sick. I had to go get her. Now, I need you to be good for me and be very gentle with her, okay?"

He nodded solemnly. Elliot hugged him. "That's my boy."

A footstep in the upstairs hallway startled him, and he looked up to see that Elizabeth had emerged from her room in a pair of pajamas with a sweater wrapped over them, her hair still damp from her shower. He ran up the stairs faster than he had come down them. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"I'm really tired. But it's so quiet in my room." She looked up at her father with wide eyes, silently pleading with him to understand so she wouldn't have to say more.

He did. He pulled her into a tight hug. "That's okay. You want to lie down in the den for a bit? We can put the TV on."

"Okay."

"Come on." He kept a hand on her shoulder in case she stumbled. He could feel that she was still shaky.

He settled her on the couch and tucked a blanket over her before handing her the remote. "Just turn on whatever you feel like." He ran his fingers through her hair. "Baby, is it okay if I tell your mom about this?"

She nodded, and he could tell she was on the verge of crying again. He kissed the top of her head. "Get some rest, and call for me if you need anything."

"Okay."

"I love you." He'd be making a point of saying that to her from now on.

"Love you too, Dad."

xxxxxxxxx

A hand grabbed her arm, and her body was shaken roughly. She tried to pull away, but the hand was firm. She was pulled to a sitting position.

She couldn't get away. She did the only thing she could. She screamed.

Elliot dropped the wooden spoon in his hand when he heard his daughter's piercing cry. He covered the distance from the kitchen to the den at a dead run.

Elizabeth was curled up on the couch, huddled in on herself, shaking and crying. His wife was standing over her, looking scared and confused.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"I don't know!" Kathy replied, bewilderment evident in her voice. "I came in to turn the TV off and found her sleeping. I went to wake her and the next thing I know she's screaming like I'm hurting her. I swear, I didn't. What is going on? I know you know."

"Kathy, leave us alone for a minute. I promise I'll tell you everything, but I need to make sure she's okay first." She nodded and left, and he sat down next to Elizabeth on the couch. "Listen to me, baby. You're okay. You're safe. I'm here. Come on, Lizzie. Come back to me."

She finally turned her head to look at him, and her eyes met his. She reached out to him and he took her in his arms. "You're safe," he repeated.

"I don't know what happened. I guess I was asleep. I felt someone grab me - I just freaked out. It was like I was right back there, with _him_." She looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes. "Who was it?"

"It was just Mom," he assured her. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her - didn't even know she was home. She was probably just trying to get you to get up and do your homework."

"Daddy -" her voice broke. The mention of homework had brought her back to something she'd been wanting to ask but was almost afraid to hear the answer to. "Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"No, no, baby, of course not," he assured her, and felt her relax in his arms. _Did she seriously think I'd send her back to school tomorrow after everything that happened? If it were up to me, I'd never send either of them back there._ "You can stay home."

"Thank you."

"I'm going to go talk with Mom, okay? I'll be back later."

"Okay."

Kathy was waiting in the kitchen. "All right. What the hell was that about?"

"Kathy, sit down." She did, and he joined her. "You're going to have to be gentle with Lizzie for a couple of days."

"Why? Is she sick?"

"Not exactly - although for the record, that's the story as far as Eli is concerned. Kath, she was attacked after school."

"What?" She was glad her husband had insisted she sit, because she probably would have keeled over. "Who?"

"Her English teacher." He'd barely restrained himself from punching out the window in the hospital room when his son had told him that. He knew his fists were clenched but he tried to restrain his anger for Kathy's sake.

"What happened?" she demanded. "What did he do to her?"

He swallowed against the urge to be sick for what had to be the fiftieth time that day. "He raped her, Kathy. That son of a bitch raped her."

She gave a soft cry and fell against him. He held her close, feeling the shake of her shoulders as she wept. He wanted to cry too, but he needed to be strong.

xxxxxxxxx

It took Richard a minute to process what he had heard, but he was out his bedroom door and on his way down the stairs as soon as he realized his sister had screamed.

Their relationship had always been a little contentious, as one could expect from siblings who had basically been together since the moment they were conceived. But it had always been the case that they were there for each other in times of great stress. Less than two years ago, it had been him falling apart after his best friend had been killed.

_"Who is it?" He barely kept his anger in check. He was really not in the mood to talk._

_"It's me. Can I come in?"_

_"Fine." He hadn't seen much of his twin since this whole nightmare had begun, but she had been in his court about his friendship with Shane through their father's disapproval. He would hear her out., because he owed her that much._

_"How are you holding up?" She stepped into his room and closed the door behind her._

_He was grateful to her for asking that way. Not asking if he was okay, because anyone with a brain would know he wasn't, but giving him a question that allowed for an honest answer. "I miss him."_

_"Is there anything I can do?"_

_"Would you just ... sit with me?"_

_She sat right down on the bed with him and reached out for him. He leaned into her, letting her take him in her arms. It felt good. "Yeah," she whispered into his hair. "I think I can do that."_

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up at him from the couch, and he could see the tear tracks on her face. "I'm better now. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"That's okay." He fell back on his memory of that day where she had comforted him. "Is there anything I can do?"

Their eyes locked and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was. "Would you just sit with me?"

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I'm right here."

They sat together for several minutes, the only noise the TV that she had had on for background, until their mother reentered the room.

"Richard, could I have a minute with your sister, please?"

"I'll be right outside."

Kathy didn't even wait for her son to leave the room before she swept Elizabeth up in a hug. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I never meant to scare you, baby, never. I swear I didn't know. I would never do anything to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"I know." She held tight to her mother. She just wanted it all to go away.

She heard heavy footsteps next to her, and then her father's voice. "Lizzie, it's Dad, okay?"

"Okay."

"Is it all right if I hug you too?" He wasn't going to do anything to make her feel trapped.

She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Can you? Please?"

He sat down behind his daughter and took both her and his wife in his arms so that Elizabeth was securely between her parents. She had started crying again, and he took her hand and squeezed it.

He felt the couch shift a little, and looked up to see that his son was sitting behind Kathy. With a gentle hand, Richard reached around his mother and began running his fingers through his sister's hair. He was careful, ready to pull away if she gave any sign she was uncomfortable. She leaned into his hand instead.

"We're all here for you," Elliot whispered. "All of us, baby."

xxxxxxxxx

Elliot gently covered his daughter with a blanket. She had fallen asleep on her mother's shoulder, wrapped in their arms.

He could hear his wife and son talking out in the hall, and walked over to join them.

"...why I called Dad and not you," was the first thing he heard, from his son.

"You were doing what you thought was best for your sister," Kathy replied. "I understand that."

"It's just that he knows how to deal with this stuff. He knows the procedure, what was going to happen. Plus, I thought he could be there faster since you were at work."

"You don't have to justify it. I said I'm not mad, and I meant it."

"Dickie." Elliot stepped into the kitchen. "Your mother's right. You've been incredibly supportive of your sister through this. You're doing everything right. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I just want her to get better."

"It's going to take some time." Elliot had been around enough victims to know this and he wasn't going to sugarcoat it. "The best thing you can do for her is to keep propping her up."

"I will. Whatever it takes."

xxxxxxxxx

Elliot's cop reflexes hadn't dulled despite his retirement, and the moment he heard the screams he was out of bed and on his way down the stairs.

Elizabeth had begged to be allowed to sleep in the den in front of the TV instead of her dark, quiet room, and her parents had allowed it. They knew they needed to let her call the shots.

"No! No! Please don't do it! Please! Please, it hurts, stop it!"

He didn't want to touch her. Seeing his baby flinch away from his touch would break him. But he didn't know any other way to get her out of this nightmare.

"Lizzie." He very lightly laid his hand on her arm, and a pain as sharp as a knife pierced his heart when she did indeed pull away from him. "It's Dad. I'm here to protect you. Come on, sweetheart. Wake up. It's just a bad dream. You're safe now."

Her eyes finally opened. "Daddy?"

"I'm here."

"You're crying."

He hadn't realized until she said it, but it was true. His face was wet with tears. "Don't worry about it, baby. Come here."

She threw herself into his open arms. "I'm so scared. I know he can't get in, but -"

"I know. You don't have to explain it."

"Can you - could you -?"

"Could I what? What can I do?" He gently rocked her in his arms.

"Stay with me? Please?"

"Of course I will." He laid down on his side across the back of the couch, helping her lie down in front of him and bringing her back to his chest. It was a little cramped, but he didn't care. He'd do whatever it took to ease her pain. "How's that?"

"Don't leave me."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her even closer. "I won't." Her hand wrapped around his, and he squeezed it. "I love you, and I'm going to keep you safe."

"I love you too," she whispered. Then he felt her head flop against his shoulder and her breathing even out. She was asleep.

"Rest, baby," he whispered. "Just rest. Let me take care of you for awhile."

xxxxxxxxx

Kathy had been only mildly surprised to find her husband missing from her bed, and wasn't surprised at all to find him on the couch with their daughter. Elizabeth's hands were wrapped tight around his as she slept, unconsciously keeping him close.

For maybe the first time, she understood why Elliot had put so much of his life into his job. She had always been upset and even a little envious, but now all she wanted was to see the man who had done this to her daughter pay for his crime.

_I do it because someone has to_ , he had always said. And Kathy knew Elliot's old colleagues. They would stop at nothing to bring down the man who had hurt Elizabeth. Just like he had for so many other women.

_Everyone deserves what I want for my daughter. Elliot helped them get it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this jumps all over the place, but there was a lot going on in my head and a few things I wanted to address.
> 
> On Elizabeth thinking her father doesn't love her, I took my idea from a couple of fan sites mentioning that, except when Elliot beats up the guy for putting her picture on a pedophile site, we don't hear much of anything about her after the first few seasons, and my own noticing of the fact that in at least two episodes (Game and Lunacy) we see Elliot spending time with Dickie but not any of the girls, even though one of them is his twin and would probably feel left out.
> 
> The second flashback is a tag of sorts to the episode Turmoil.
> 
> The last bit was something I'd been planning for awhile, that Kathy would really realize how important the work SVU does is when it hits close to home.
> 
> Please leave comments, it's the only "payment" I get!


	5. Chapter 5

"Captain, I need to talk to you about this case." Olivia informed the squad room the moment she walked in. "Actually, I think all of you should hear this."

"The high school case?" Cragen frowned a little. "The guy I talked to sounded like he wasn't even sure it was legit."

"It's legit," Amaro assured him. "First responder's an idiot. Thought the girl's brother made it up to get out of trouble."

"And we're sure that's not what happened?" It wasn't until she spoke that Olivia even realized Alex Cabot was there. "Look, I don't mean to doubt you, but if this goes to trial and the brother did say it while he was being questioned about another incident, one that could have gotten him in trouble, defense will be all over that."

"There's no doubt in my mind that she was raped," Olivia said firmly. "She was almost hysterical when I first talked to her, didn't even want Nick in the room with her. Hospital confirms it. She had substantial vaginal trauma."

"Where are we on the case?" Cragen pressed.

"That's the good news," Amaro informed the room. "He banked everything on the girl being too scared to talk. He didn't use a condom, so we have semen in the rape kit, and she knew him by name. Your case is a slam dunk, Counselor."

"So what's the problem?" Cragen asked.

"It's not really a problem, but it's something you all need to be aware of. Our victim is Elizabeth Stabler."

The response was immediate. Cragen reeled back a step, Munch gasped, Fin's jaw almost hit the floor, and Alex whispered "Oh, my God."

Amanda Rollins looked around at her colleagues who had all reacted so violently to the name. "What? What am I missing here?"

"Elizabeth Stabler's father used to be a cop. He worked for SVU for more than fifteen years, retired just before you came," Fin told her softly. "He must be going through hell right now."

"All right, let's see if we can nail this guy," Cragen said, pulling himself and the team back on track. "What do we know about him?"

"James Bakersfield. He's a teacher at the victim's high school. Victim's father told us he's been there nine years." Amaro rattled off the facts, then frowned. "There's something else that's been bothering me. Aside from not covering his tracks, he played his sick game very well.. He lured her in, was ready to grab her when she tried to leave. It was a well-set trap, good enough to catch a kid whose dad was SVU. I don't think Elizabeth was his first victim."

"Then let's make sure she's his last. Fin, Rollins, talk to his co-workers, see if we can find out where he hangs out. Munch, Amaro, go talk to the school administration, get his home address and see if they can find a way to talk to the students and try to find any other victims he might have had, then if Fin and Rollins aren't finished hop on board. Alex, we need a warrant for his DNA as soon as is humanly possible. Olivia, my office."

The crowd in the squad room scattered, and Olivia followed Cragen into his office.

"Liv, sit down."

"Captain, I need to work this case," she said before he could even speak. "And I don't mean because of Elliot. Elizabeth trusted me, she talked to me. I can't leave her out to dry now."

"Olivia. Olivia, slow down." He held up his hand and she finally stopped. "I'm not pulling you off this case, at least not yet. I will have to if I think you're getting too close, but I don't think we're at that point yet. Take care we don't get there."

"Understood, Captain."

"Now, the reason I actually called you in here was to ask how you're holding up. This can't be easy for you."

"He was always so afraid this would happen. You remember when he pounded the hell out of that guy for putting an old school picture of her on that website."

"I remember. But how are _you_ holding up?"

Damn. He was good. She should have expected that by now. "After he left, I thought about what it would be like to run into him, what we would say, what would happen. And then a few weeks later I was sure that if I ever saw him again I would tear him a new one for just walking out of my life without even saying goodbye. Then I finally see him, and I have to completely shatter his world. I still have those feelings buried somewhere, but I can't be angry with him right now. He's going through so much." She swallowed. "When we told him, he reached out to me. Physically, I mean. Like we were still partners. And I - it never even occured to me to turn him away. It's like this past year never happened."

"I understand," he said gently. "Just be careful. Remember, he's not a cop on this one. They wouldn't let him work the case even if he was still on the force. Your personal relationship is your business, but don't let it affect the case."

"Understood."

"Get down to the school, help Fin and Rollins with the canvas. I'm sure they could use an extra pair of hands."

"On my way."

xxxxxxxxx

"James?" The music teacher briefly looked up from the stack of sheet music she was sorting. "Honestly, I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Rollins pressed.

"Well, he seems nice enough. But he's just - off. He does things that are a little strange."

"Like what?"

"Like last week, he started asking me a bunch of questions about one of my students. One in particular. I'm not really sure why, she's decent at English but nothing special and she'd be the first to admit it. And do you know how many students each teacher has in their daily schedule? It's odd for a teacher to fixate on one unless there's something that distinguishes them to that teacher."

"Which student?" she asked.

"Elizabeth Stabler."

_Our rape victim._ "What did you tell him?"

"I talked a lot," she admitted. "I've known Elizabeth pretty much since she started freshman year. Music is her thing, it's what she does best, what she loves. She's been accepted to Julliard for next year. I think she'd pack the piano in her backpack if it would fit, just so she could play anywhere she felt like it. Now if she showed that kind of talent and passion in English, I'd understand him paying so much attention to her, but she doesn't." She frowned. "What's this about?"

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that. Do you know where he might be now?"

"We don't really socialize outside of work. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"That's okay. Thank you for your time, Ms. Jordan."

"If there's anything else I can do to help, just let me know."

"If you think of anything," Amanda fished a business card out of her pocket, "or if you see him between now and the start of school tomorrow, give me a call."

"I will."

xxxxxxxxx

"Rape? Are you sure?" The principal looked horrified.

"I'm afraid so," Amaro said patiently. "We have one complaining witness already, and we suspect there may be more victims."

"What do you want from me?"

"Two things," Munch replied. "One, we need his home address. And two, we need some sort of outreach to the students. Something discreet - we're not releasing the victim's name, and we don't want anyone putting two and two together, if you get my drift."

"I'll talk to guidance, see what I can do. His home address is here, and do me a favor." He leaned in a little to say the next words to the detectives. "Make sure you get him. Even one student is too many."

"Oh, don't worry," Amaro replied. "We will."

xxxxxxxxx

"All right, what have we got?"

"Guy's kind of a loner, possibly a creeper, but doesn't socialize with colleagues outside of work," Fin reported. "No one knows where he hangs out."

"I got pretty much the same," Amanda added. "Except that it looks like he's been interested in our vic for awhile. One teacher said he's been asking a lot of questions."

"Write that down," Olivia told her. "We might be able to use it at trial."

"I have a home address." Munch waved a piece of paper at them. "We can sit on it and wait for him."

"At least someone got something useful," Fin said with a shrug. "Does he have any reason not to go home?"

"I don't think so," Amaro replied. "I talked to the unis who handled the original incident; they took his statement and sent him off before anyone mentioned the rape. He may not even know that Richard is aware of what he did, and he probably doesn't think it was ever brought to the attention of the police, or that it would be taken seriously if it did."

"Wait." Rollins bit her lip in contemplation. "Maybe we can make this easier on ourselves."

"What are you thinking?" Munch turned to look at her.

"He filed a police report, right? So we can call and tell him that we need additional information about the altercation - it's not even a lie. Olivia said there was a connection."

"We get him to tell us where he is," Nick finished. "Then we go pick him up." He laughed. "Anyone tell you you're brilliant recently?"

She glanced down at the floor, and it was clear she was a little uncomfortable with all the attention. "How do we want to play this?"

"Your idea, you make the call," Munch suggested. "Since Benson and Amaro were the original officers on scene, you two go pick him up. Let's do this."

xxxxxxxxx

"Mr. Bakersfield?"

The man looked up and smiled when he saw their badges. Instantly, Nick understood what Richard Stabler had meant about wanting to wipe the smug grin off the man's face, but with an incredible effort of will he restrained himself from following up the punch in question with one of his own.

"We just have a few questions about the report you filed earlier this afternoon," Olivia said.

"Anything I can do?"

"Did Mr. Stabler have any reason to attack you?" he asked.

"Like what?" He looked completely bewildered. _He should be the drama teacher_.

Olivia and Nick exchanged a look, silently agreeing to go in for the kill. It was Olivia who said it. "I don't know, maybe like the fact that you raped his sister."

Now he looked like a deer in the headlights. "I - I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. You raped Elizabeth Stabler and then tried to press charges against her brother when he hit you."

"If she says that she's a liar. She's covering for him."

"I don't think so. Stand up."

"What?"

Amaro grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. "She said stand up." He pulled the handcuffs off his belt and cuffed the man. "James Bakersfield, you are under arrest for the rape of Elizabeth Stabler. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney..."

xxxxxxxxx

"How is he?" Munch asked.

"Lawyered up," Olivia replied bitterly. "We're not getting a confession out of him. Where's Cabot? We need that warrant."

"Ask and you shall recieve." Alex strode into the squad room, the paper clutched in her hand. "When in doubt, seek out the judge with a child. All I had to say was that a teacher attacked a student and I had his name on the dotted line."

"Great. Get Warner up here." Cragen wasn't even out his office door before he started giving orders. "Fin, go lean on him, see if he gives us anything we can work with."

xxxxxxxxx

Elliot stood in silence on the elevator. He had never planned to come back here after what had happened to Jenna Fox. He knew, logically, that he had only done what he had to, that Jenna had already killed three people and could have killed more, but it hadn't been easy to justify shooting a girl his youngest daughter's age.

He looked down at Elizabeth, trying to push the images of Jenna out of his mind, forcing himself to see only his daughter and not Jenna when he looked down at her. _I'm here for her. I can't be selfish and fall apart here._

She reached for his hand as the doors opened, and he took it, as much for his comfort as hers, as they stepped off. He walked up to the door of the squad room and then had to stop. His heart was racing. He took hold of the doorframe, trying to keep it together. He couldn't let her see how bad it was.

"Hey. Long time no see."

He looked up to see Munch standing in front of him. "Where's Liv?" he asked without preamble. He couldn't work up the energy for pleasantries.

"She was called to the courthouse at the last minute. Cragen almost had to drag her onto the elevator. She didn't want to go when she knew you were coming."

"That's Liv for you."

"This Elizabeth?" He didn't really need confirmation, but it had been a few years since he'd seen her.

As soon as he turned his attention to her, Elliot felt his daughter's body go rigid and her fingers tighten against him. Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to warn her before Munch kept talking. "Why don't you come with me?"

"No!" She all but threw herself into her father's side. "Dad -"

"Shh, it's okay, no one's going to force you." He looked over at Munch. "I'm sorry, this isn't going to work. Can you just find a place we can wait for her?"

"We might have another option." He looked over his shoulder. "Rollins! Come here a second."

The blonde woman appeared in the doorway behind Munch. "Yeah?"

He nodded towards Elliot and Elizabeth by way of explanation, and she nodded her understanding. "Hey. You Elizabeth Stabler?"

"Yeah." She let up her death grip on him a little as Munch retreated back into the squad room. "That's me."

"Amanda Rollins. You think we could go talk about what happened?"

She slowly let go of her father. "Okay."

"All right, let's go right over here." She led Elizabeth out of sight, towards where Elliot knew the rooms were that they used to question the victims. As soon as she couldn't see him, he let himself slump against the beam.

"You want to sit down?" Fin appeared as if from nowhere and guided him into a chair. He sank heavily into it, putting his face in his hands. "You okay, man?"

He drew a deep breath. "Yeah. I just didn't think it would be so hard. Being back here, I mean," he added at Fin's perplexed look. "I look around and it's like I expect to be back in that moment, Jenna raising that gun, knowing what I had to do."

They stayed there in silence for a few seconds before they heard footsteps running down the hallway and a rather flustered-looking Olivia came careening into the squad room, noticed him still in the chair directly in her path, and stopped just short of falling into her old partner's lap.

Fin repressed a snicker, and Elliot swallowed back an urge to laugh as well. Olivia took a deep breath and visibly pulled herself together. "Where's Elizabeth?"

"Amanda's talking to her, getting her statement," Munch said from his desk. "Don't worry, they're fine."

"So there was really no reason for you to be in such a rush," Fin quipped. That did it and Elliot cracked up, with Munch and Fin following a second later. Even Olivia giggled as she realized how ridiculous she must have looked from their perspective.

Elliot didn't know exactly when or why it happened, but all at once his laughter turned to tears and he was crying, sobbing, right there in the middle of the squad room. He couldn't stop himself, and he didn't even care enough to try anymore.

Warm arms wrapped around him. He knew without having to look that it was Olivia embracing him, holding him, rubbing his back as he bawled on her suit. He knew her scent, the feel of her hands.

"My baby," he gasped. "God, my baby."

"Shh," she whispered. "Let it out. It's okay. Let it out."

He held tight to her and kept crying. All the pain that he had kept pent up the previous night, trying to be strong for his wife and daughter, came pouring out of him. The only solid thing in the world right then was Olivia Benson, and he clung to her, seeking out that stability.

When he had run out of tears, he wiped his face and pulled back from her. "I'm sorry, Liv."

"I'm not," she replied softly. "You needed that. I know this is hard on you."

Munch appeared as if out of nowhere with a cup of water, which Elliot accepted gratefully. He drank it down in a few gulps. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"I need to clean up. I can't let Lizzie see me like this."

"Bathroom's right where it always was," Fin offered. "So are the lockers, if you need something to take a swing at." He was only half joking. As he'd said once before, if it were his kid, he wouldn't be showing this kind of restraint.

"I'd rather take a swing at him," Elliot said darkly. "Richard had the right idea - and I never said that."

"He comes by it honestly," Olivia said with a soft chuckle. "Go on. Rollins and Elizabeth should be finished soon."

xxxxxxxxx

By the time Elizabeth came out of the interview room and promptly attached herself to her father, there was no sign he had been crying. His tears had been wiped away, and his eyes were no longer red. The lockers also remained intact, though it had briefly crossed his mind to take Fin up on his offer.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

She nodded tearfully against him. "Detective Rollins was really nice. I just don't like having to talk about it."

"I know, honey. But that's how they're going to catch him and put him away." He caught himself just in time to avoid saying _we're going to catch him._

"Can we go home now?"

"Of course. Come on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the team's on it. I came up with the bit about Olivia being in court because I wanted her to be able to talk to Elliot, and if she was there when they came in she would be interviewing Elizabeth instead.
> 
> Should be obvious, but in case anyone's confused, the beginning of this chapter runs parallel to the previous chapter.
> 
> I know some people might be disappointed that Elliot and Kathy are still married, so let me just say for the record that no, I'm not writing an EO romance (even though I think they'd make an adorable couple) just yet. However, I'm not saying anything about sequels, so...
> 
> Just to be clear: while I hate that their arrival coincided with Elliot's departure, I like Amaro and especially Rollins as characters (not least because they really needed another woman on the team), so they will be getting some "screen time", so to speak.
> 
> Please comment!


	6. Not The Only One

** Elliot helped his trembling daughter into the car, squeezing her hand before he let it go and slid into the driver's seat. He looked over at her. "Are you hungry?" **

** She shrugged, and he knew that she meant that honestly. Her emotions were such a wreck she didn't even understand her body's signals anymore. **

** "You haven't eaten all day," he said gently. "If I get you some food, can you try to eat?" **

** "Okay," she whispered. It was the kind of response he'd come to expect from her. She wasn't the one who argued with her parents or tried to get her way. She never had. **

** "What do you want? Your choice." **

** She looked at him. "Can we just get something with a drive-through? I don't want to see anyone." **

** "Of course." They were on the highway now, so he chanced taking one hand off the wheel for a few seconds to rub her shoulder. "Whatever you want. You know that, right?" **

** She nodded, but looked uncertain. The next exit was coming up fast, so he quickly slid the car into the right lane, ignoring the annoyed horns from the drivers behind him. He found a parking spot just off the exit ramp and pulled the car into it. **

** "Dad?" she asked, perplexed. "What are you doing?" **

** "I want to have a talk with you," he said gently, "and I don't know that it can wait." **

** "What's wrong?" **

** "You," he said simply. "Your sister told me what you told her last weekend." **

** "I'm sorry," she whispered, eyes on her own lap. "I didn't mean --" **

** He reached out and gently smoothed her hair back from her face. "The only person in this car who needs to be apologizing is me. You were right that I didn't pay as much attention to you as I did to your brother and sisters, and that's not right. It's not right for you to have been pushed aside just for behaving yourself and not getting in trouble." **

** She sniffed. "It's okay," she whispered. "You don't have to act like you like me more just because I'm a --" she couldn't say it. **

** "Oh, baby," he whispered. "Is that what you think?" **

** She didn't reply but he didn't need her to. He reached deep into his pocket and removed his wallet, pulling out a white envelope. "I wasn't going to show you this, but I think it might be something you should see." **

** She took it from him and opened it tentatively, pulling out a pair of tickets, reading them. Her eyes went wide, and for the briefest instant, a look of pure delight crossed her face. " ** **_ War Horse _ ** ** !" she gasped. "I've wanted to see that  ** **_ forever _ ** ** !" **

** He smiled at her, her enthusiasm warming his heart. "I know. The tickets aren't for more than a month, so I was going to surprise you closer to the date, but I thought it might make you happy now." **

** Her face went solemn again. "But you're still only doing this because of what happened." **

** He shook his head. "That's not true, baby, not at all. Take another look at the date they ere purchased." **

** She did, and her eyes went wide with shock for the second time in as many minutes. "But -- but that was two days  ** **_ before _ ** ** ." **

** "I know." He rubbed her back tenderly. "I was going to give them to you just to show you that I  ** **_ do _ ** ** love you, even if I haven't always been good at showing it. I wanted to make it a day for you, a special day with just the two of us. Because I never want you to doubt that I love you again. Come here." **

** She reached out to him, and he hugged her over the center console of the car. "I love you so much. And that's why I'm so worried about you, and why I'm trying to make sure you know that this is all about you. If you want drive-through, we'll get drive-through. I get that you don't want to have to go inside anywhere." **

** She met his eyes and the vulnerability there made him want to weep again. "I'm so scared." **

** "I know." He tightened the embrace, making a mental note to dig up Rebecca Hendrix's number. He wasn't usually a fan of therapists but she had talked him through a difficult time and would probably be able to help his daughter. "But I'm right here with you, and I promise you that no one,  ** **_ no one _ ** ** , is going to hurt you as long as I'm with you." **

** "Can we go home now?" **

** He reluctantly let go of her and started the car back up. "Like I said, whatever you want." **

** xxxxxxxxx **

** He jumped when the doorbell rang. **

** Elizabeth was asleep in her room, her CD player going loudly. He had swung the car through a McDonald's, and she had realized she was, in fact, hungry as soon as she had started to eat. He had ended up putting aside most of his meal and letting her eat it, knowing she hadn't eaten since before the attack. **

** She had fallen asleep almost instantly upon getting home, exhausted by having to relive her ordeal for Rollins, taking only the time to get out of her shoes and turn the music on. **

** He pulled the door open and did a bit of a double-take. "Liv, what are you doing here?" **

** "I was in the neighborhood. Where's Elizabeth?" **

** "Asleep. Do you want to come in?" **

** "Sure."  **

** He stepped aside to let her through the door. "Don't get me wrong, but this is nowhere near where you work or live. As you once told me, that's a lot of neighborhood." **

** "I know. But I wanted to make sure you're okay." **

** "After that show I put on in the squad room, you mean?" **

** "There's nothing wrong with that. I cried my eyes out in front of everyone when that social worker took Calvin away from me. You're a father. I'd be more worried if you weren't upset." **

** "I gave fifteen years of my life to locking up rapists and pedophiles, and I couldn't even recognize one in my own daughter's school. It could have been any or all of them he targeted." **

** "How many of the guys we arrested were the kind of people everyone thought could do no wrong? There is no one profile for a perp, and you know that as well as I do." **

** "And now my baby's never going to be the same. She almost had a panic attack when Munch tried to talk to her." He swallowed hard. "Hope the prosecutor's good." **

** "Alex good enough for you? She's been back from the Congo for months now." **

** "Yeah. Alex is good." He sighed, sinking into a chair. "But how's she going to do it? How is she going to handle cross? She can barely handle telling her story to a sympathetic female detective, and we know what the defense will do to her on the stand." **

** Olivia gently squeezed his shoulder. In this moment, it really was like nothing had happened between them. She knew they would eventually have to hash out everything that had happened between them, but this wasn't the time or place. He needed someone to lean on. He'd been that someone for her before, and once he'd practically abandoned his infant son for two days to do it. She owed him nothing less. **

** "Don't sell her short," Olivia said gently. "She's stronger than you give her credit for. She's a Stabler." **

** "She doesn't seem strong right now." He leaned into her side. "She seems so fragile, like she could shatter at any moment if she's pushed the wrong way." **

** Olivia moved the hand from his shoulder to gently rub his back. "How many of our victims have seemed the same way? And how many of them went on to nail their attackers in court?" **

** He leaned even more heavily into her. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Then he stiffened a little as he realized what he had said. "Listen, about what happened --" **

** "Not now." She kept rubbing his back. "You're right that it's something we will need to talk about, but this isn't the time or place. You've just been handed probably the worst news a father can ever get, and you have to deal with your own pain and Elizabeth's. We'll talk about this when you've got less on your shoulders." **

** He closed his eyes and sank back into her. "Thank you. For everything, Liv. I mean it. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't on this case." **

** "Well lucky for you, you don't have to find out." **

** xxxxxxxxx **

** Olivia sat in her car and drew a deep breath. Being inside his house had definitely been a blast from the past. She'd only been in a handful of times even while she and Elliot were partners, but apart from the large assortment of photos of their children having been updated it hadn't changed that much. **

** She had bumped into Kathy on the way out and had been ready to provide a lengthy explanation as well as an apology if necessary, but the other woman had only nodded. She clearly understood that Olivia was involved on her daughter's case, and on that Olivia knew Kathy's priority was the same as her own: to see the man pay for his crimes. **

** She was most of the way home when her phone rang. She reached over and picked it up. "Benson." **

** " ** **_ Olivia? _ ** ** " **

** The voice sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. "Who is this?" **

** " ** **_ Kathleen. _ ** ** " **

** "What is it?" She just barely stopped herself from asking  ** **_ is it Elizabeth _ ** ** , but she didn't know if Kathleen knew about her sister yet and didn't want to jump the gun and tell her something she wasn't supposed to know. **

** " ** **_ I need to talk to you. As soon as possible. _ ** ** " **

** "You're still at Hudson, right?" **

** " ** **_ Right. _ ** ** " **

** "All right. I can be there in twenty minutes." **

** xxxxxxxxx **

** The meeting place was moderately crowded, but Olivia knew Kathleen well enough to pick her out of the crowd and waved her over. "Hey." **

** "Hey." **

** "What's this about?" **

** "To be honest -- I'm not completely sure. I got a really strange call from my brother about an hour ago and wanted to talk it over with you." **

** "Sure. Let's sit down." Olivia gestured to a bench. Secretly, she was glad she hadn't said anything about Elizabeth. It was clear from the way Kathleen was acting that she didn't know. "So what did you and your brother talk about?" **

** "I had this friend in high school, Lisette. I mean, she was one of my best friends, we were really close. Junior year, first day back after summer break, she walks in and she's pregnant. Visibly." **

** "Okay. But what does your brother have to do with this?" **

** "I'm getting there. See, there was a rumor going around that she had been having sex with our English teacher and he was the one who got her pregnant. Mom must have heard it from another parent, and she asked me about it. I told her it was none of her business, and we got into an argument, which Richard heard. I made him swear not to say anything about it, and I honestly thought he'd forgotten, but then he called me out of the blue today and said that I needed to talk to Lisette about the whole thing because he thinks that the teacher might actually be the father and might have raped her. He was really upset too, way more than I would have expected. He barely knew her." **

** "Which teacher?" Olivia asked, even though she didn't think she needed to ask to know. There was only one reason Richard would have drawn that conclusion. **

** "Mr. Bakersfield." She swallowed. "Look, I don't even know if it's true, but if it is -- Lisette tried to help me when I first started going off the rails, even though I didn't want her help. If she was raped and she's been carrying that around all these years, then I owe it to her to help her get her day in court. And you can do that better than me." **

** "Okay, I just need you to answer a couple questions for me. She's the same age as you?" **

** "Yeah, she's twenty-one." **

** "How old was she then?" **

** "She was sixteen on that day back, but she was four months pregnant and her birthday was only a month before that." **

** "And what happened to the baby?" **

** "Her parents wanted her to put it up for adoption, but Lisette wouldn't do it. She's the kind of person who gets attached to people very easily, and after carrying that baby inside her for nine months there was no way she was just going to give her to another family. She kept it." **

** "Can you give me her full name and any other contact information you have?" **

** "Lisette Jamieson, but I haven't talked to her in years. I lost touch with most of my high school friends when, you know, all the stuff started happening. Look, if you do talk to her, tell her I'd love to hear from her. And, uh, tell her she was right, and I'm sorry." **

** xxxxxxxxx **

** "Lisette Jamieson?" **

** It had taken them only a few hours to track down the woman. Fortunately for them, her name was unusual enough that between that and her age they had been able to locate a woman who was likely Kathleen's friend. Olivia had taken Rollins and headed out to the apartment on her record, and so far it looked good. The woman standing in front of them matched the DMV photo. **

** "Yeah, that's me. Who are you?" **

** Olivia flashed her badge. "Police. We'd like to talk to you." **

** "About what?" **

** "You're not in trouble," Rollins assured her. "We think you may have information related to a case we're working. Can we come in?" **

** "Okay." **

** They followed her into the living room, where a girl who looked like a miniature version of Lisette sat on the floor playing with a doll. She looked up when they came in, smiled, got up and walked over to the brunette detective. "Hi! My name is Nina! What's your name?" **

** She smiled and knelt down to the girl's level. "My name is Olivia. It's very nice to meet you, Nina." **

** "Nina." Lisette had come up. "Why don't you go play in your room for awhile so I can talk with the ladies." **

** Her little face scrunched up in a pout. "Do I have to?" **

** "Yes, I'm afraid you do. Go on." **

** Her pout intensified, but she collected the doll and scampered off into her room. Lisette turned to the detectives. "What can I help you with?" **

** "It's about Nina," Rollins told her. "More specifically, about her father." **

** "I haven't talked to him in years. Why bother me about him?" Then she took on a look of confusion. "Wait, how do you even know who her father is? There's no father's name on her birth certificate." **

** "We don't know," Olivia said kindly, "but we suspect. We know there was a rumor regarding your English teacher." **

** She rolled her eyes. "And you listened to that? Don't believe everything you hear." **

** "We believe he's Nina's father," she replied even more softly. "But we don't think you willingly had a sexual relationship with him." **

** Lisette closed her eyes and looked away. "I -- I don't want to talk about it." **

** Olivia very gently placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Lisette, were you raped?" **

** That did it. A sob broke free from the woman's throat and she crumpled to the living room floor, consumed in tears. She looked up at Olivia through tear-filled eyes, crying openly. "Yes," she whispered. "My son of a bitch English teacher raped me and got me pregnant. Is that what you want to hear?" **

** "It's never what we want to hear, honey." She knelt again, this time to get on Lisette's eye level. "But if it's true, and I know it is, it's still not too late to bring him to justice." **

** Lisette sat up a little and then, to Olivia's surprise, threw herself into the detective's arms. Olivia embraced the crying woman, gently stroking her hair. "Shh, honey, it's okay, it's okay." **

** "I love Nina," she gasped when her tears had let up. "Don't ever doubt that." **

** "I don't. Come on." She helped Lisette get to her feet and sit on the couch. "Tell me what happened." **

** "Mr. Bakersfield pulled me into his classroom one day after school. Said he had a book he wanted to show me, one he thought I might like. Then he locked the door from the inside and forced me to -- to lie down, and he pulled down my pants." Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. "I was only fourteen." **

** "You were a freshman?" Amanda gasped in horrified shock. Olivia had fully briefed them on the case and she knew that she hadn't become pregnant until the end of her sophomore year. The realization of how long the abuse must have been going on was enough to turn her stomach. **

** Lisette nodded. "It went on until I came back pregnant first day junior year. He said he'd fail me if I told, and I believed him. But I guess he didn't want me anymore with the bump. Then once she was born, I always told him that if he tried to do anything to me  ** **_ or _ ** ** my grades I'd tell them he was Nina's father, and since he knew I could prove it he backed off. I thought that was the end of it." Another sob broke free. "But it's not. I can't stop thinking about him. I wake up sometimes thinking I'm back in that classroom with him on top of me. It never stops." **

** "You never told anyone," Amanda said softly. **

** She shook her head. "My parents were never around, Dad was always working and Mom was going out to one thing or another. Dad tried to make up for his absence with money, but I couldn't tell him anything." She sniffed. "Mom didn't care. I didn't have anyone to tell." **

** "You have us now," Olivia assured her. "Lisette, I meant what I said. It's not too late. You can still get justice for what was done to you." **

** "And what happens to Nina? She's already asking me why she doesn't have a daddy, where he went. What happens when she finds out that the reason she doesn't know her daddy is because he tortured me for a year?" **

** "She'll understand if you show her," Olivia replied softly, trying not to think about her own mother. It was clear to her even from the few moments she had seen them interact that Lisette was a far better mother to Nina than Serena Benson had ever been to her. "Yes, it may be hard for her, but in the end what matters is not that you hate her father, but that you love her in spite of it. And I can tell you do." **

** "I do. She's the only person in the world who loves me unconditionally, how could I not love her back?" **

** "See? You'll do fine." Olivia met Lisette's eyes. "Would you be willing to come down to our precinct and make an official statement?" **

** "What about Nina?" **

** "We can keep an eye on her," Amanda promised. "She'll be fine." **

** "Okay," she whispered. "Okay, I'll do it. Just answer two questions for me first." **

** "Sure." **

** "First, why are you asking me now? It's been almost six years since he last touched me." **

** "If we'd known, we would have done this a long time ago," Olivia promised. "We're looking into another incident. Your name came up in our investigation." **

** "Another girl," she said flatly. "He did it to someone else, didn't he? And it's my fault." She started sobbing again. "If I'd come forward about what he did to me, she wouldn't have been raped." **

** "Sweetheart, this is  ** **_ not _ ** ** your fault," Olivia told her forcefully. "You were a victim, and you were scared. He chose to do what he did. I know you didn't intend for anything to happen to anyone else. You were trying to protect yourself. You're not responsible for his actions." **

** She looked up, and her face was even more determined. "If he's still doing it, then I  ** **_ have _ ** ** to stop him. Nina!" **

** The child came running out of her room. "Yes, Mommy?" **

** "We're going to go take a ride, okay?" **

** "Okay." She reached out for her mother's hand. "Why are you sad, Mommy?" **

** She bit her lip as though considering it. "A bad man made me sad," she said finally, "and now we have to take a ride so I can tell these women what he did to make me sad so he doesn't make anyone else sad. Okay?" **

** "Okay." **

** "You had another question?" Olivia asked as they escorted the woman and her daughter out to the car. "If you're comfortable --" **

** "Yeah, it's fine. It's just -- how did you know? I doubt rumors like that make their way to the police as a matter of policy." **

** "No, they don't. Someone who knew about the original investigation tipped us off." **

** "Who?" **

** "Kathleen Stabler." It was only tweaking the truth a little, and since Kathleen had asked her to give Lisette a message she doubted her old partner's daughter would mind her name being brought in. **

** "How is she?" Lisette sounded genuinely concerned, and Olivia didn't blame her. Considering the condition Kathleen would have been in the last time they had spoken, she had every right to be concerned. **

** "She's good. No, really. She says she'd love to hear from you." Olivia dropped her voice to a near whisper. "She also said to tell you you were right, and she's sorry." **

** "You know her phone number?" **

** "I'll write it down for you at the station." **

** xxxxxxxxx **

** "How did Bakersfield's arraignment go?" Fin asked Alex. **

** "Two hundred thousand bail and an order of protection prohibiting him from coming within one hundred yards of or having any contact with Elizabeth Stabler or any member of her family." **

** "What are you going to say if I tell you we have another victim?" **

** "What?" Alex did a double take. "When?" **

** "Six years ago. She never came forward until now. But," he added, stopping in front of a window and gesturing to the other side, "we have proof." **

** Alex looked through the window to see Nick Amaro playing with a little girl. She didn't see anything else. "What proof?" **

** "Meet Nina Jamieson, daughter of our perp and another one of his students. She's in the interview room with Liv now. I know." He held up a hand to forestall what she knew Alex was going to say. "Under normal circumstances, that only proves the existence of a sexual relationship. But the victim was only fifteen when she got pregnant." **

** Alex was nodding now. "We have DNA from Bakersfield. I assume the mother volunteered samples from herself and the child?" At Fin's nod, she continued. "That proves the child's his. We get the child's birth certificate and mom's medical records, and we can determine her age at the time of conception, and we have a bulletproof case for statutory at the least, and a place to start building a case for a more serious rape charge. And we have a pattern, which will be harder for the jury to ignore." **

** "There's more, Alex." Fin's face was grim. "He stopped raping Lisette Jamieson after she got pregnant. I find it hard to believe he laid low for six years before he hit Elizabeth." **

** "If there are more victims, find them, fast. Once we indict him we can't add charges." **

** "We're trying, Alex. The way Liv tells it, Lisette was a break that pretty much fell in our laps. We're probably not going to get that lucky again. How much time can you buy us?" **

** "A week if I play it right. Captain?" Cragen had just walked in behind Fin. **

** "I've been going over this. 1PP wants us to go public, get out ahead of the media firestorm. I'm starting to think we could play it to our advantage. Tell them we believe a teacher at a local high school has been sexually abusing students and ask anyone with information to call. Give his name, school, everything. We'll probably get some leads that mean nothing but hopefully it'll encourage any victims to come forward." **

** Alex was nodding. "I'll hold off the indictment for as long as I can. I want to see this guy go down as much as you do." **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the first bit seemed a little random but it was something I was going to put in at some point anyway and I decided to put it in here after it occurred to me that Elizabeth might get the wrong idea.  
> The idea of Lisette just got into my head and wouldn't leave. I created the bit about her having a child because that's irrefutable proof of what happened.


	7. Kathleen

"Special Victims, Detective Tutuola."

Olivia glanced over at him and her curiosity and concern were instantly piqued when she saw the look on his face as he listened to the caller. "Yeah. Okay. We're on our way." He hung up the phone. "That was Elizabeth Stabler's school calling."

If Fin hadn't had her full attention before, he certainly did now. "What's up?"

"Well, after this morning's press conference, the school decided to hold an assembly and tell everyone straight what was going on. One girl apparently ran out in the middle. They found her throwing up in the bathroom. Another came forward after."

"My God." Olivia put her face in her hands. "That makes four. And we've still only got one victim from farther than four years back." Her phone rang. "Special Victims, Detective Benson. What? Okay. Okay. One second." She covered the receiver. "Fin, you and Rollins go. I have victim number five on the phone."

xxxxxxxxx

"How many does that make?" Munch asked in a voice that suggested he was a little afraid to know the answer.

"Total of eight," Amaro replied soberly. "By our timeline, he started about six months after he began teaching. He abuses the victim for awhile, the time frame hasn't been consistent, and then he moves on, searches the students until he finds a new girl to abuse."

"He picks his victims carefully." Olivia picked up from there. "All the girls he's targeted have been the quiet ones, the kind that don't make waves. He finds something specific to lure them in with the first time, and then he has control. All of them are the type of student who would really care about a failing grade, so he uses the control he has in that department to control them."

"There's more, I think." Rollins looked up from her interview notes. "Nick's right that he hasn't abused all his victims for the same amount of time, but I'm seeing a pattern. Kendra Harris, Violet Frye, and Nancy Carter all graduated, that's when the abuse stopped. Sarah Palmer did a semester abroad and that's when it stopped for her. Moira Greene, said, and I quote, 'I cut my hair because every time it moved on my shoulders it was like I could still feel his hands in it, but he never pulled me into his room after that If I'd known I would have cut it way sooner.' And Lisette Jamieson said he stopped raping her after she got pregnant. They either become unavailable -"

"Or unattractive to him," Olivia finished, catching on. "When we follow up with Hanna Douglas and Francesca Hamilton we need to see if there were any drastic changes in their appearances that coincided with him moving on. That's a pattern I'm sure a jury would love to hear."

xxxxxxxxx

"Hanna got a tattoo." Nick wrote on the board as he was speaking. "Liv, you said Francesca told you she lost almost thirty pounds over the summer and he lost interest?"

She nodded sadly. "He screwed her up good. She started starving herself just to take back control of her life. She's in treatment now for anorexia."

"That's just sick on so many levels." He wrote what Olivia had told him under Francesca's name."The good news, if you can call it that, is that we have all nine years covered, except those first six months and I'm hoping that means it took him some time to start on his sick trip. No gaps more than a couple weeks, except breaks I mean, and that's consistent with him going on the prowl, staking out his next victim. We've got all the victims accounted for."

"I'm just glad they finally got rid of the statute of limitations on rape," Olivia said softly. "Otherwise three of these eight wouldn't ever see their day in court."

She saw Munch and Fin nodding and knew they were thinking the same things she was. They had all been on the force long enough to remember the days when they would come up with an open-and-shut case they couldn't prosecute because some arbitrary amount of time had passed.

"But they will." Alex had walked in just in time to catch the tail end of that comment. "I'm calling the victims in the order they were attacked. I'm going to need to prep all of them."

"I figured." Olivia handed Alex a stack of paper. "Contact information for all of them."

She nodded her thanks. "Olivia, Nick, I'll be calling both of you for trial as well. Liv, I should warn you, the defense will probably try to use the fact that Elizabeth is your old partner's daughter against you. Langan's defending and you know what he's like."

"There's nothing to use. I treated her like any other victim."

" _I_ know that, Liv, and you know I do." Alex spoke quietly, trying to calm the defensiveness her remark had raised. "It doesn't mean the defense won't try to spin it. This guy's pretty obviously guilty at least in the cases of Elizabeth and Lisette, so the defense will be trying to dig up dirt wherever they can find it."

"I'm used to it."

"Good."

xxxxxxxxx

"Dad?"

Elliot looked up and almost jumped. "Kathleen! I didn't hear you."

"Can we talk?"

"Of course. Is something wrong?"

"I'm worried about Richard. I got a really strange phone call from him yesterday."

"Okay." He didn't doubt his son was worried, but what was he doing calling Kathleen? "About what?"

Kathleen repeated everything she had told Olivia. "I mean, maybe that's what happened and maybe it isn't, but what would make him think that? What would make him think about it at all? I haven't thought about Lisette in months."

"Sit down." He had already spoken to Elizabeth and they had agreed that he could tell Kathleen. She had known that, as frequently as her sister came around, it would be difficult to pretend nothing was wrong, and anyway Kathleen and Elizabeth had always been close.

"Dad, what is it?" She was looking at his face and she could see the emotions there. She was worried now.

"The English teacher Dickie was talking about -" he swallowed hard. "He - he raped Lizzie."

Kathleen stared uncomprehendingly at her father. _There's no way he just said what I thought he said. How did I hear that? What did he actually say?_

But her denial couldn't last long. It was practically written on him. Emotions swirled in his face, pain for what had been done to Elizabeth, anger at the man who had done it, guilt that he couldn't protect her. It hit her all at once. _My sister was raped. And my best friend probably was too._

She became aware that she was shaking and crying. Her father's arms wrapped warmly around her.

"How - how could he do that?" she gasped when she had her voice back.

"I've been asking myself the same question for fifteen years and I still don't have an answer. I know it's hard."

"Where is she?"

"Probably up in her room, still sleeping. She had a rough night."

Kathleen stepped briefly into the bathroom to compose herself and then carefully cracked her sister's door and peered inside. Elizabeth was sitting curled in a ball, her shoulders shaking. She wasn't sleeping, she was _crying_.

"Hey." Kathleen walked up and placed a hand on her sister's back. "You okay?"

Elizabeth looked up, her face covered in tears. "I - I don't think so."

Kathleen sat carefully on the bed. Elizabeth slid over a few feet and dropped her head in her sister's lap, one hand finding purchase on Kathleen's jeans, her own legs curled under her. Kathleen just stroked her hair. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay. He's not here. He can't hurt you."

"I know," she sobbed. "I mean, I know in my head, but it still feels -"

"It's okay," Kathleen said again. "I'm here for you."

They sat in silence for awhile as Elizabeth cried. "Don't tell Dad about this," she begged once she'd composed herself a little.

"Why not?" Kathleen was taken aback.

"Come on. I don't want him knowing I'm practically crying all day. He probably already thinks I'm weak."

"Didn't look like that to me." Elizabeth still hadn't lifted her head from her sister's knees, and Kathleen kept stroking her hair. "He looked like he was worried sick."

"But I'm being such a baby. Why can't I just get over this?"

"He hurt you. I don't think anyone expects you to just get over it."

"I wish I could," she whispered miserably. Kathleen felt her heart break a little more.

"I know you do. And dad and I do because you do. But that doesn't mean we think there's something wrong with you because you can't. We want to help you. Talk to me. What can I do?"

"I'm so tired," she whispered. "I can't sleep. Maybe if you lie down with me for a little bit -"

"Sure." Kathleen kicked off her shoes and laid down on the bed, letting her sister curl up to her. Elizabeth was asleep in seconds.

xxxxxxxxx

Elliot peeked into his youngest daughter's bedroom and smiled to himself when he saw the two girls curled up together. It was hardly the first time he had seen this - back when Elizabeth was little, she had had a habit of crawling into Kathleen's bed when she had nightmares. Kathleen would wrap protectively around her little sister and he'd come in to wake Kathleen and find two little heads on the pillow instead of one.

That had been years ago, of course, but it had spoken to the bond between his two younger daughters. The bond had wavered a little when Kathleen's mental health problems had started to interfere with her life, but they had picked right back up where they'd left off when she'd gotten it under control. He was glad Elizabeth had her sister now.

Kathleen looked up at him and put a finger to her lips, indicating her sister, and Elliot knew that she was telling him Elizabeth was asleep. He nodded in response. She hadn't been sleeping more than an hour or two at a time without waking up, usually screaming in terror.

He sent a silent apology to the family of every victim he had pressed trying to get a conviction. It was different being on this side. He still remembered what it was like to want that conviction, to know that if they didn't get the guy he'd hurt someone else, but he'd never been more aware of what the individual victims went through than he was now. If someone treated his little girl like he'd treated some of them, he'd be hard pressed not to put their lights out. Lucky for Elizabeth, Olivia had always been gentle with victims. And though he'd only just met Detective Rollins, she had seemed much the same.

xxxxxxxxx

He really needed to stop trying to walk and read the case files at the same time. That was the first thing Nick thought after he walked right into the woman in the hall. "Oh, I'm sorry, miss. Can I help you?"

"I need to find Olivia." It was said without preamble or explanation.

"She's right through there." He was a little worried. Was she a victim? She certainly looked more than a little upset.

The woman stormed into the office, stopping at Olivia's desk. The detective looked up, surprise and recognition in her face, but the woman standing over her spoke before she could. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Kathleen -" Olivia began patiently.

"Don't try that with me. Answer the damn question! We talked for a good five minutes yesterday. You could have told me!"

"No, I couldn't have." Olivia had yet to so much as raise her voice. "I can't disclose a victim's name without her express consent."

"I'm her sister!"

"I know that. But family doesn't trump that rule. Elizabeth is seventeen, she can make that choice for herself."

"Well, obviously she was okay with me knowing!"

"I see that, yes. But if she doesn't expressly tell me, I have to assume she's not."

"Who is she?" Amaro asked Fin under his breath.

"Kathleen Stabler. Elizabeth's older sister."

He nodded. "I'll go save Liv." He stepped up to the distraught blonde. "Hey. Kathleen, right?"

"Yeah."

"I get that you're upset. I would be too. But don't blame Olivia. She was just trying to do what was best for your sister. Now, your dad used to work SVU, right?"

"Yeah." She was starting to calm down. "From the time I was four until last year."

"So you know that what Olivia says is true. She didn't choose not to tell you out of spite or because she thought you wouldn't care. The law says she couldn't."

Kathleen nodded. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I really don't do that anymore."

"Kathleen." Olivia stood and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You're not the first relative of a victim to scream at me, and some have done worse."

She looked ashamed now. "I'm still sorry. I was just mad, and I took it out on you." She sighed. "Lisette?"

"I can't tell you that either. But she did say I could give you her phone number." Olivia pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled down the number. "Ask her yourself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning; as meticulously as I've been going over a few days to this point, after this chapter it will probably be skipping ahead a bit to the Grand Jury and then the trial.
> 
> I'm not trying to say that Elliot was never good with the victims, he was very good most of the time, but there were a few episodes where he would push a bit hard in his need to get the perp. There's one in particular (can't remember the episode name but it's earlyish in the series) where they practically drag a young victim in to question her because another child is at risk. Not saying they didn't do the right thing, but I always thought he'd become the overprotective parent he so disliked if it was one of his kids.


	8. A Time to Speak

Elliot paced anxiously outside the door to the Grand Jury hearing. "What is taking them so long?" he demanded of no one in particular.

Olivia put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from wearing a path in the floor. "It's only been a few minutes, and you know these things take time."

"I should be in there for her."

"It's a closed hearing." She left off pointing out the rest, that Elliot didn't need to hear the details of what had happened to his little girl. He'd have those images in his head soon enough anyway; she knew nothing would keep him out of the courtroom during the main trial.

"I know, I know. Doesn't make it any easier." He sighed, running a hand over his short hair. "I'm just glad Kathleen and Dickie were talked out of coming. It's hard enough for me to put up with this."

"Where are they?"

"Dickie's in school, Kathy and I practically had to order him to go. Kathleen actually made the first step on her end, said she was sorry but she's helping out a friend and can't reschedule."

Olivia only nodded. She had a pretty good sense of what friend Kathleen was helping. Lisette had been shaken after her own testimony, although it appeared to have gone well; Alex had whispered to Olivia that she'd seen tears in the eyes of a few of the Grand Jury.

They were already pretty sure this case was a slam-dunk. In addition to the DNA matches to Elizabeth's rape kit and Nina's daughter, chances were good that at least one of their jurors would have children in school. Of course that didn't mean Alex was getting complacent, but it looked good.

The door opened and Elizabeth walked out, her face streaked with tears, and immediately threw herself into her father's arms. He drew her close, lifting her clear off the ground. "Come on, baby. Let's go home."

xxxxxxxxx

Olivia did a brief double-take when her buzzer rang, but then reached over and pressed the button. "Who's there?"

"Liv?"

" _Elliot_? What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure, okay." She reached over to buzz him in and opened the door when she heard him knock a moment later. "What are you doing here?" she repeated. "You should be with your daughter."

"She's with Kathy. She'll be fine."

Olivia stepped aside to let him in, but that didn't mean she was letting up. "You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

"I think we need to talk," he replied gently.

"About what?"

"About everything that happened. Every time we've talked so far, it's been about Elizabeth, and I - I appreciate your support more than you can possibly imagine - let me finish," he added when it looked like she would say something. "We can't keep acting like the last year never happened. We need to talk about it."

"Okay." He was right. Even though they hadn't discussed their personal lives much, it had hung over every interaction they'd had. Best to get it out in the open.

"I got your messages," he began. "All of them. I just - I didn't know how to answer."

"You could've called me back," she replied.

"I know. But I didn't know what to say. I'm sorry, Liv, really. I just couldn't stay, not after Jenna."

"That's not it," she replied softly.

"What?"

"I don't _like_ that you left, but I could've dealt with it. But you just stopped talking to me, didn't answer my calls, nothing. I had to hear that you'd resigned from Cragen. I could deal with losing you as a partner, but losing you as a friend - that's what really hurt, El." She turned away to hide her tears.

"Liv, I understand. It wasn't -"

"No," she interrupted, "I don't think you do. You have a family, El, a wife and kids to go home to. I don't. The squad _is_ my family. Especially you." She finally turned to look at him, and he could see the emotions in her face. "I've never - I've never been as close to anyone as I was to you, and then you just cut yourself out of my life without so much as saying goodbye."

The look on her face was what cut into Elliot's heart. He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Olivia Benson look so vulnerable. "Liv, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You disappeared without a word and you come back almost a year later and you're _sorry_?"

"Yes." Patience wasn't exactly his strong suit, but it was probably necessary here. "I'm sorrier than I think you can possibly imagine." He took a chance and laid his hand on her shoulder. "And don't think for a second that I haven't missed you too."

"Then why didn't you call? I don't care if you didn't know what to say; that's never kept us from talking before."

"You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

It was his turn to look away. "The truth - I was scared, okay?"

"Of what?" She sounded less forceful and more encouraging now.

"Everything. I shot a sixteen year old who was so upset by the murder of her mother I doubt she understood what she was doing. I held her as she died and she looked so innocent and helpless."

"But she wasn't," Olivia contradicted. "She had a gun, she'd already fired shots."

"She was trying to kill the men who'd killed her mother. You of all people _know_ how many times I fantasized about killing those scumbags. There's one I'd kill right now if I thought I could get away with it," he added bitterly.

"And she'd already shot one innocent bystander," Olivia reminded him gently, leaving his last comment unacknowledged. She knew who he meant, and there was nothing more that needed to be said.

He mumbled something incomprehensible. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "What?"

He looked up at her. "I thought she was going to shoot you. That's what sealed it for me. I was wavering, not sure if I should shoot if she didn't put the gun down, but she was so close to you - I couldn't let you get hurt." He reached up and laid his hand over the one she had on his shoulder. "You're right that I had more people outside of work than you do, but that doesn't mean I didn't care about you as much as you did about me. And then after - I was terrified, I needed to get away from anything associated with the shooting to deal with it. And then when I finally felt like myself again, it had been too long and I didn't know how to come back after that, on top of which I was sure you hated me."

"That's when you sent me that card."

"Exactly." He reached out and gently caressed the medallion she still wore around her neck. "I wanted you to know that I never forgot about you."

He carefully put his arms around her, giving her ample time to protest or pull away. Instead she slipped her arms around his neck and closed the gap between them.

He felt a soft sigh escape her as she relaxed into his arms, a tension she'd probably been carrying for months finally released. "God, I missed you," she whispered.

"I missed you, Liv," he whispered back, even though it had already been said. "I don't miss the job, not really, but I missed _you_ every minute of every day. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"I know." She leaned into him. "Believe me, I know. I've done the same, remember?"

"It wasn't the same." He rubbed her back. "You didn't choose to do it, the feds made you." He paused only a brief second before saying what he really wanted to. "Besides, you came back. If - _all this_ hadn't happened, I probably never would have seen you again."

Olivia didn't have anything to say to that, so she just hugged him tighter. She didn't realize she was crying until he gently reached up and wiped her face. "Oh, Liv," he whispered.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, I'm sorry. I hurt you, Liv. I never meant to hurt you. Come here." He pulled her close again. "I'm not coming back to SVU, but I swear I won't leave you again."

That only started her crying harder, but they were tears of relief and he knew it. He held her tighter. Nothing more needed to be said between them.

xxxxxxxxx

It had surprised Rebecca Hendrix more than a little when Elliot Stabler had called her. She hadn't really kept in contact with him but it had reached her through the grapevine that he had left SVU, and the police force as a whole. He also seemed to be holding onto his composure by a thread, something she'd seen from him only once before, and that had been only after she had very carefully broken through his defenses.

That had been explained as soon as he told her what had happened. If anything could break through the defenses of a man like that, it was seeing one of his children hurt.

"I feel so helpless," he'd admitted in a near-whisper, as though ashamed to admit there was anything in the world he couldn't handle or control. "If there's anything you can do to help..."

And it was because of that that she was now sitting across from Elizabeth Stabler. "Can you tell me how you feel right now?"

She looked up at the doctor, and her eyes were wide with vulnerability. "I don't know."

"That's okay. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure that out."

"It's just, I feel so different than I ever have before I don't even have the words for it."

"How about you describe it as best you can?"

"I can't stop thinking about him. I want to so much, but I can't. I see him every time I close my eyes and I just want to scream. It's like - it's like everything that happened since was a dream and I'm back there, it's so real. If someone's there with me it's not so bad, because I can feel them and that helps me remember that I'm not really there, but I can't sleep in my dad's bed forever. I feel like such a baby."

"Elizabeth," she said gently, "it's perfectly normal for a person of any age to be scared after something like what you've gone through."

"Dad always used to warn us about strangers," she said softly. "Not to get into cars with them, say no and tell an adult, you know, all the things kids learn. I wish it had been a stranger."

"Why?"

"Then at least I'd know it was just some pervert. I've known Mr. Bakersfield for years, I really thought he was okay. If I can't trust him -" she broke off. "I'm scared. I'm scared of everyone. I don't want to go back to school."

"Okay. Is there anyone else you're afraid of in particular?"

She shook her head. "I mean, I wasn't afraid of him either, but it's not any one person. But every time I think about going back to school I feel like I'm going to throw up."

Rebecca nodded her understanding. "I want you to do something for me, if you're willing."

"What?"

"I want you to think through the last day you were at school, from the moment you entered until right before you went to your locker that last time. Try not to think about what happened after yet. It's just that day."

"Okay."

"Close your eyes. Think. Now try to remember something that happened that made you smile."

She saw a smile flash across Elizabeth's face and knew something had come to mind. "What was that?"

"I was in music class and I was playing the piano with a singer. She could never get this one note right, but all of a sudden she did, and it sounded better than I thought it ever could."

"You love music, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you play a lot at school?"

"Yes. I have music class every day and I stay after a lot to practice for recitals or concerts. Sometimes Ms. Jordan lets me stay and helps me work on a piece I'm having trouble with even if I don't need it for anything to do with school."

"Ms. Jordan is your music teacher?" At Elizabeth's nod, she continued. "Do you like her?"

"Yes, of course."

"Why?"

"Well, she's really good, and she doesn't let kids get away with messing around or causing trouble. My freshman year a bunch of people transferred out to a different elective because they thought it was going to be easy and she didn't just let them goof off. But if you're really serious about it she'll do everything for you. It doesn't even matter if you're really good, as long as you try hard. She stayed after school with me every day for a month to help me practice for my Julliard audition, and she even took me out to dinner with her own money when I got in."

"Tell me what else you enjoy about school."

"My physics teacher is really funny and he makes it make sense, even though I'm not really good at science. He uses silly examples but I understand it better than I did last year in bio when the teacher just talked like he was reading the book."

"What else?"

Elizabeth listed a few more things she liked about school, then paused. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Before I answer, I want you to think about going back to school now. How do you feel about it?"

"I'm still scared, but not as much. I don't feel like I'm going to be sick."

"What happened to you was very traumatic, and events like that leave a very strong mark in your mind. You were having difficulty separating the thought of school from the thought of your attack. By asking you to recall specific good memories, I helped you force your mind to think about school in terms other than what was relevant to what happened to you. It helped, didn't it?"

She nodded. "Can you tell me what's wrong with me? Why can't I close my eyes without seeing him? Why do I keep waking up thinking I'm back in that classroom?"

Rebecca exhaled slowly. "I'd say you probably have post-traumatic stress disorder."

"You mean, like soldiers?" Elizabeth's brow furrowed deeply.

"That's the most common association people have when they hear that, but actually PTSD is very common in victims of sexual assault. As I said, what you went through was an incredibly traumatic and life-changing event. If you're interested, there are therapy groups for women who've been sexually assaulted. It would be a chance for you to talk about what happened to you with other people who know and understand what you're dealing with. It wouldn't replace our sessions, it would be in addition."

"I - I think I'd like to try that."

She pulled out a notepad and wrote out an organization name and phone number. "Here. Tell them I referred you."

"Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's wondering, I deliberately wrote that scene between Elliot and Olivia to be vague, so that it could be perceived as a precursor to a relationship or as just a friendship moment, depending on what readers are interested in. Think of it how you will.
> 
> Loving the comments so far, keep 'em coming if you like what you read!


	9. Baby Steps

Richard reached over and gave his twin's hand a squeeze. "You sure about this?" he asked for what had to be the hundredth time.

She nodded. "I'm sure." Then she faced the doors of the school and drew a deep breath as though she was about to dive deep underwater.

Their parents had been incredibly understanding about her fear of going back to school, and she knew that if she had wanted it, they would have found a way for her to complete her senior year online from home or something. But Rebecca had had another perspective. While she had been understanding of and sympathetic to Elizabeth's fears, she had advised the young woman to go back to school, to at least give it a try. "If you don't," she had said, "part of you will always be stuck. Confronting that fear is the only way to move on."

Once the momentary threat of panic subsided, she felt more strange than anything. Everyone else around her was going on just as they had on the morning of _that_ day, as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed. She was trying to deal with it as best she could, but Rebecca and her father had never tried to delude her into believing she'd ever go back to the way she was. She would get better, they had promised, she could move on with her life, but she couldn't turn back the clock on her horrific experience, no matter how much she and everyone else wished she could.

She felt her brother's hand take her arm reassuringly as they stepped through the doors together. She smiled at him, a silent thanks.

xxxxxxxxx

This was a challenge she hadn't anticipated.

She had managed to get through the first four classes in her day, plus lunch, without much trouble. None of those classes were anywhere near the classroom where she'd been raped. The hardest part had been going to her locker, where _he_ had first surprised her, but she'd managed to grab her books and bolt before it could get too bad. She'd probably be trying to carry more books at a time to make fewer locker trips, but that wasn't too bad. It hadn't hurt that her last class before lunch was music. In that room, doing what she did best, she could almost forget everything that had happened since she'd last been there.

But English was her first class after lunch. Bakersfield had of course been fired as soon as everything had broken, but his classes had been reassigned to a substitute and were still in the same room. The room where, two weeks earlier, her teacher had thrown her to the floor and raped her.

She wished Richard were in this class, but they only had physics together. She stood near the door, trembling, afraid to step through. Logically she knew that nothing could happen in the middle of a crowded classroom, but she couldn't help it.

"Hey, Stabler. Move it out or move it in, but move it. Some of us want to get into the classroom."

She glanced over to see Janie Barker standing there. Janie had always been one of the more obnoxious girls in the school. She was smart, there was no debating that, but she seemed to think she was the best of the best and that she had the right to be mean to anyone she pleased.

"Sorry," Elizabeth replied quickly, stepping out of the doorway. "Wasn't paying attention."

"You don't have to tell me that." Janie got halfway through the door and stopped, turning back to the friend she'd come with. "Sarah? You coming or not?"

"Forgot something. Go on, I'll be right there." She watched Janie until she was out of sight and then turned to Elizabeth. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look it." Sarah stepped up to her. "It's okay if you're not, you know."

"Right. Like you and Janie would ever let me live that down."

"Janie doesn't have to know." She leaned in a little, lowering her voice. "What did he do?"

"Who?" _She can't mean ..._

"You know who I mean. I can see it just looking at you." She bit her lip. "It happened to me too."

"What?" _She can't be saying what I think she's saying._

"You know." She nodded towards the classroom. " _Him_. From sophomore year until I did that semester in Italy."

Elizabeth was slowly getting the idea that Sarah really was talking about what she was thinking. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." She stepped forward and hugged the other girl, a little tentatively at first, but when Elizabeth returned the hug she relaxed and tightened the embrace. "You told someone, didn't you?" she whispered into Elizabeth's ear.

She nodded. "My brother. He told the cops."

"I always wanted to be brave enough to tell someone. I never could. I'd get close and then I'd chicken out." She let up the embrace. "Come on. You'll like Miss Hargrove, she's nothing like him. But she will mark us late if we're not in there when the bell rings."

"How do you keep going back in there?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I used to cut his class a lot. It's easier now that he's not there. Come on, I'll walk in with you."

xxxxxxxxx

He knew as soon as he looked through the one-way glass that something was wrong. Olivia looked like she was trying, and failing, to keep her emotions in check.

He'd only come in to get some information from her on when the trial was scheduled for and ask if she could give him some tips to prepare Elizabeth. And, if he was being honest with himself, because he'd been watching the high-profile news coverage of their latest case, and he wanted to make sure she wasn't taking it too hard. When he'd been told she was back here, he'd assumed she was working. That didn't seem to be the case.

He pushed the door open. She didn't even look up to see who it was. "I'll just be a minute."

"Liv." He said her name softly. "Liv, what is it?"

She finally looked at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking on you." It was truthful enough, and right now it was what mattered most. "Liv, you did the best you could. We've all made mistakes. You made it right. That's more than I could do with Victor Tate."

"I know." She turned a little, and now he could see the tears in her eyes.

"Liv, what is it? What's wrong?" He put an arm around her shoulders. When she seemed to welcome the touch, he pulled her into his shoulder. "Liv, it's not your fault."

"I finally had a chance..." she whispered.

He frowned. "At what?"

"Being happy. Having a man in my life who really cared, who wasn't turned off or too turned on by my job."

He remembered well how hard it was for her to find a man who was right for her. "What happened? He dump you over the case?"

"Not exactly." She sniffed. "No one in the unit knows, and they can't find out. I was seeing David Haden."

Elliot let out a slow breath. The aftermath of Omar Pena's overturned conviction had made news as surely as the actual case, and they had mentioned that the man in question had been assigned to oversee case reviews for SVU, creating a massive conflict of interest. "Liv, I'm sorry."

"I miss him. I really thought maybe I'd found The One."

He stroked her hair, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You'll find him someday, Liv."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because you're an amazing person. And someday someone else will see that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, I know, but this is mostly filler stuff. The first bit seemed necessary, the second was just something I liked and the third, well you can never have too much Elliot and Olivia.
> 
> The third section is set in the aftermath of the episode Justice Denied and also references the Season 11 opener Unstable.


	10. The Moment of Truth

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

"I do."

"Please state your name."

"Lisette Jamieson."

This was the third witness Alex had called to testify against Bakersfield. Olivia knew that most of the testimonies would mirror each other, but she felt it important to be there for each girl. Their experiences might seem interchangeable to someone on the outside, but after a lifetime of working with victims, she knew better. And Lisette especially. Olivia glanced over at Kathleen, sitting a few rows in front of her. The two of them were the only real support Lisette had.

"Miss Jamieson, do you recognize the man on trial today?"

"Yes."

"Where do you recognize him from?"

"He was my English teacher in high school. From the middle of my freshman year until the end of my sophomore year, he would take me into his classroom after school to rape me."

"How many times were you sexually assaulted by the defendant?"

"I don't know. Every few days when school was in session. A lot, I guess."

"When did he stop?"

"When I came back first day of junior year."

"Can you describe what happened that day?"

"I was four months pregnant at the time. He pulled me into his classroom, and I was thinking it was all going to start again, everything he'd done to me. Then he looked at me and he just slapped me across the face. He said I was a disgusting slut and to get out of his room before I dirtied it up."

"What happened next?"

"I went to the bathroom and I just cried. I was so glad not to have been raped."

"Miss Jamieson, do you know who is the father of your child?"

She raised a hand and pointed directly at Bakersfield. "He is."

"Let the record reflect that the witness has identified the defendant, James Bakersfield." Alex paused for long enough to pick up a piece of paper from her table. "People's exhibit two, paternity test results showing that James Bakersfield is the father of Nina Jamieson, daughter of Lisette Jamieson." Then she turned back to Lisette. "How old were you when you became pregnant?"

"Fifteen."

"People's exhibit three, medical records for a prenatal checkup performed on the witness at age fifteen." Alex handed this document over as well. "Let the record also reflect that the age of consent in the state of New York is seventeen, and was seventeen when the witness became pregnant. Miss Jamieson, why didn't you report your assault?"

It was a small gamble on Alex's part. But if she didn't bring it up, the defense would, and they would find a way to skew it to make Lisette seem unreliable. Best to get out in front of it and play it so it would be sympathetic to Lisette instead of her abuser.

"He threatened to fail me if I told anyone. I thought he'd be able to do it and get away with it. I didn't think anyone would take me seriously, that all I would be doing by telling would be to make him angry at me."

"Thank you, Miss Jamieson. Your witness."

"Miss Jamieson, can you please tell the court again why you didn't report the alleged rape?"

"He threatened me. Considering his position, I knew he was capable of carrying out his threat."

"Which was to fail you, is that correct?"

"Yes. But he was violent sometimes too, I thought he might hurt me."

"But if he was in prison, he couldn't fail you, could he?"

"No, but -"

"And he couldn't hurt you, could he?"

"He could if someone like you got him off and he went back onto the street," she retorted, never so much as raising her voice and yet capturing the immediate and complete attention of the jury. "Even if the school fired him, he had had access to my school records which included my home address. And that's assuming it even went to trial and wasn't dismissed. I'm not stupid, I read the news. I know how girls who are raped get treated."

 _Dig your client in, Langan,_ Olivia thought to herself. _Go on._

But unfortunately, the defense attorney was smarter than that. "Miss Jamieson, if it was rape, why would you choose to keep the child you bore as a result?"

"That man may be guilty, but Nina is innocent," she replied evenly. "I don't believe in abortion. I mean, I wouldn't tell another woman in my situation she shouldn't have one, but for me it was never an option. I considered giving her up for adoption, but I loved her too much. Maybe I was selfish but I couldn't see not being able to raise her."

"But you say my client raped you."

"Yes. He did."

"Why would you want to keep around a daily reminder of that rape?"

"That's not what Nina is!" For the first time, Lisette's voice wasn't calm and collected. "A constant reminder was having to see him every day, even after he stopped raping me, because I had classes with him."

"And when you look down at your daughter, you don't see the man who raped you staring back at you?"

"Objection!" Alex protested.

But Lisette was faster than the judge. "No! I look down at Nina and I see a little girl who just wants what every child wants, to be loved and cared for. The sins of the father don't define the child, and you have no right to suggest I don't love my daughter!"

"Objection sustained!" The judge cut into Lisette's rant. "Move on, Mr. Langan."

"No further questions."

"Redirect, your honor?" Alex was up before Langan was in his chair.

"Proceed."

"Miss Jamieson, do you think of the defendant as your child's father?"

"Objection! Relevance?"

"The defense raised the issue of Miss Jamieson's feelings towards her daughter. I'm just following up."

"Overruled. Answer the question."

"No."

"Why not?"

"He's never had any part in her life. He was disgusted with me for being pregnant. His only concern when I told him I was pregnant was that I might tell someone it was his. It takes more than getting a woman pregnant to be a father."

"Do you blame your daughter for the crimes her father committed?"

"Absolutely not! I love my daughter."

"Thank you. No further questions."

That was good. Olivia needed to get out of this courtroom now, before anyone saw the tears in her eyes.

xxxxxxxxx

"So far, I think it looks good," Kathleen told her father over the phone. "That defense attorney tried to break Lisette down, but she schooled him instead. I think he'll think twice before he questions a mother's devotion to her kid again."

"What? What did he say?"

"Oh, he basically tried to make out that if she'd really been raped she wouldn't be able to love her daughter. I guess he was trying to put her in a position where she either had to say she wasn't raped or that she didn't love her kid. She didn't bite - unless you count biting his head off. She went off so fast the judge had to cut her off to sustain an objection to the question."

"Was Olivia there?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"No reason," he lied. "Lizzie's up the day after tomorrow."

"I'll be there. You know I will."

"Love you."

"Love you too, dad."

He hung up and immediately headed for his car. There was somewhere he needed to be."

xxxxxxxxx

Olivia reached over and pressed the buzzer. "Hello?" She really hoped it was a wrong button or a neighbor needing to be buzzed in. She really wasn't in the mood for company.

"Liv? It's me. Can I come in?"

She couldn't even form words now. She silently reached for the buzzer. She didn't want to leave him out so close to his daughter's trial, but did it really have to be today? Now?

She opened the door when she heard him knock. He took one look at her face, and she knew he knew something was wrong. Just like he had after Sealview. He'd followed her home then because he knew something was wrong, even when she insisted it was nothing.

He stepped in just far enough to close the door and then he had her in his arms. "I've got you, Liv," he whispered. "It's okay now."

"I'm sorry, El," she mumbled into his chest. "It's just been a rough day."

"I know." She glanced up, surprised, and he continued. "Kathleen told me what Langan did to Lisette on the stand today."

"She didn't love me," Olivia sniffed. "Lisette loves Nina so much. She defended her in open court. She almost lost it when Langan accused her of not loving Nina. She doesn't look at Nina and see her attacker. She doesn't have to get drunk because her kid reminds her of the man who raped her. She doesn't smack Nina around."

"And that has nothing to do with you," he said soothingly. "If Lisette does love Nina more than your mother loved you, it's because she's a better mother than your mother was, not because Nina's a better daughter than you were. Any sane woman would be proud to have a daughter like you."

"My mother would never have defended me like that."

"You don't know that. She never had the chance."

"I knew _her_. I know what she would have done."

He hugged her tighter. "Regardless, Liv, it's not your fault. And it's okay to feel awful about it. Really."

"I'm sorry, El," she said again. "You probably came here to talk about your daughter and I -"

"I came for you," he replied gently. "I know how you question yourself. I know what you deal with." He placed a light kiss on her forehead. "You don't have to be the strong one there for everyone else all the time. Not while I'm here."

"You really came here just because of me?"

"You bet."

xxxxxxxxx

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

"I do."

"Please state your name for the record."

"Elizabeth Stabler."

Alex approached the witness stand, studiously avoiding looking at Elliot in the audience beside his wife. "Miss Stabler, please describe for the court what happened to you after school on April the twenty-fifth of this year."

"I was at my locker after music practice, and Mr. Bakersfield asked me to come into his classroom to talk about my grade."

"Is this Mr. Bakersfield the same man who is on trial here today?"

"Yes."

"Please continue."

"When I leaned over his chair to look at the computer screen, he put his hand down my shirt and grabbed my breast. I pushed him away and said no. Before I could leave completely, he grabbed me by the shoulders, said that if I was going to be a bad girl I'd have to go sit in the corner for awhile. I tried to push him off but he was holding on too tight, I couldn't break his grip. He dragged me into the corner of the room. I screamed and screamed but it was well after the end of the school day and I guess no one heard me. He pushed me down on my knees and he opened his pants. Then he pulled my mouth open and forced himself in. He said 'you even think about biting me and you'll regret it'. He still had my head in his hands, I didn't know what he'd be able to do and I was afraid to take the chance. He finished and he tipped my head back and held my mouth shut. He said 'swallow or I'll let you suffocate' and I didn't feel like I had a choice. I thought I was going to be able to get out of there, but instead of letting me go, he laid me down on the floor and pulled down my pants. I started screaming again, but still nobody came."

Elliot had Olivia's hand in a death grip, but she didn't care. She was more worried about what it was doing to him, hearing his daughter recount the details of her violent assault. She had heard them; he hadn't. If it had been up to her, he never would have, but he would have sooner died than leave her to face this alone.

"He pulled down his pants and shoved himself inside me. It really hurt - I was a virgin. It felt like he was tearing into me. I was crying and screaming, and he told me to shut up, I was lucky to be with a man like him, most girls would never get so lucky. It felt like it went on forever. When he was finally done, he told me to pull up my pants and get out. Then he told me not to tell because if I did he'd fail me and Julliard might revoke my admission."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Yes. I told my brother." She looked across the courtroom, meeting her brother's eyes. "He told the police. Detective Benson questioned me, and I told her what happened."

"Thank you, Miss Stabler. People's exhibits twenty-one and twenty-two. Photographs from the examination of Elizabeth Stabler and DNA results on the rape kit taken on the date in question." She handed them to the jury. "Your witness."

"Miss Stabler," Langan began, "who is your father?"

She looked a little confused but answered anyway. "Elliot Stabler."

"This is the same Elliot Stabler who retired last year from the New York police force?"

"Yes, that's right."

"What unit did your father work in immediately prior to his retirement?"

"Objection!" Alex called out. "Relevance?"

"I'll allow it," the judge replied, "but get to the point, Mr. Langan. The witness may answer the question."

"Special Victims."

"Which is usually referred to as sex crimes, am I right?"

"I've heard that, yes."

"So your father handled more than a few rape cases over the course of his career, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Did he ever speak to you about them?"

"Sometimes."

"Objection!" Alex said again. "If this is Mr. Langan's point, I fail to see the relevance."

"Mr. Langan, is there a point to this line of questioning?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Then _make it_."

"Miss Stabler, did your father ever discuss the issue of false sexual abuse allegations with you?"

"Once or twice."

"What did he say happened to the perpetrators?"

"He said their lives were ruined. That even if the courts cleared them they couldn't go back to the way things were."

"'Their lives were ruined'. By a simple _allegation_. That's a lot of power, isn't it?"

"Objection! The witness isn't qualified to answer that."

"Sustained."

"I'll rephrase. Miss Stabler, what happened after you accused your teacher of rape?"

"He was arrested."

"Isn't it also true he lost his job?"

"I - I guess so."

"Did you know Detective Benson prior to April twenty-fifth?"

"Yes, she was my father's partner."

"So she'd be likely to believe you over a random teacher you'd never met."

"Objection!"

"Sustained!"

"You say your brother told the police you were raped. Which precinct did he go to to report this?"

"He didn't," she said softly. "The police came to our school."

"Responding to a call."

"Yes."

"Miss Stabler, what was that call about?"

"My brother punched him," she admitted. "The man who raped me."

"Is that so? Your brother punched a man, then when the cops show up, he tells them the police raped his sister. A nice setup, don't you think?"

"It's not a setup! It's the truth!"

"He gets off on the charge of assault, and the man _he assaulted_ goes to prison for rape! Or was that the plan all along?"

"No!" Elizabeth yelled at the same time as Alex yelled "Objection!"

"Maybe you weren't a part of it in the beginning." Langan all but drowned out the judge's "Sustained!" as he pressed. "Your brother punched a teacher. Maybe he planned it, maybe it was impulsive, but either way, he cried rape through you, and you had to back him up!"

"The objection is sustained, Mr. Langan!" the judge scolded. "The jury will disregard the last statement from the defense."

"Miss Stabler, where do you attend school now?"

"I'm a first-year student at Julliard."

"But Mr. Bakersfield said that if you told, he would fail you and you might lose your admission. What was your final grade in the class he had taught?"

"A-minus."

"So he didn't fail you."

"No. He never got the chance."

"Did you believe his threat?"

"It didn't really register, I guess. I was so shaken up by what had just happened."

"But because you turned him in, he never got the chance to fail you."

"That's right."

"Several other witnesses testified that they didn't turn him in because they feared him making good on his threat. But he couldn't, once the allegation had been made, could he?"

To Olivia's surprise, what might have been a smirk crossed Elizabeth's face. "As you pointed out yourself, I know more about the law and how rape cases work than your average Joe."

Olivia almost laughed. If there had been any question as to whose daughter the girl on the stand was, what she had just done erased it in a second.

"No further questions."

"Redirect, your honor?" Alex was up before the last word was out of Langan's mouth.

"Proceed."

"Miss Stabler, when your father talked to you about false rape allegations, did he ever encourage using such an allegation for any reason?"

"No! Absolutely not! He said the only people who deserved to go through what people who are accused of rape do are the real rapists. He also said that every false allegation makes it that much harder for the real victims."

"Thank you. No further questions."

"You may step down, Miss Stabler. We'll reconvene after lunch."

Elizabeth had seemed composed on the stand, but as she walked out of the courtroom, Olivia could see that she was shaking. Elliot met his daughter with a warm embrace. "You did good, baby," he whispered. "I'm so proud of you."

Kathy, Richard and Kathleen joined the embrace. Olivia started to step back, give them a little space, but Elliot grasped her by the arm and pulled her in too. "You're a huge part of this, Liv," he whispered. "Don't think I'll let you get away with hiding out in the corner."

xxxxxxxxx

Richard's testimony was fairly straightforward, answering many of the same questions as his sister. For all Langan's faults, he wasn't stupid, and he seemed to realize that if he asked Richard the same questions Alex had already objected to the judge would be less than pleased.

But the lawyer still had a few dirty tricks up his sleeve. Alex's examination of Olivia was also a standard set of questions she could have answered in her sleep, but Langan's cross was a different story.

"Detective Benson, Miss Stabler testified that you and her father were partners for - how long was it?"

"Twelve years."

"Twelve years. And did you recognize Miss Stabler before she identified herself?"

"Yes."

"So you were maybe more inclined to believe her than you might have been in the case of a stranger?"

"I always believe the victims," she replied evenly. "And I've been wrong in that before, but that has nothing to do with my relationship to the victim."

"In addition to Miss Stabler, you also were the first to interview Lisette Jamieson and Kendra Harris, were you not?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Detective Benson, did you speak to your former partner before you spoke to Miss Jamieson and Miss Harris?"

"I did."

"Was he upset?"

"Of course. Any decent father would be."

"He wanted to make sure the man who raped his daughter was punished for it."

"That's right."

"Did he communicate this to you?"

"Yes, of course."

"So when you interviewed Miss Jamieson and Miss Harris, you already believed my client was guilty."

"I believed he was guilty of raping Elizabeth Stabler. I also know from experience that there are few rapists out there with only one victim. And like I said, Mr. Langan, I believe the victims."

"Miss Harris came to you, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And Miss Jamieson? Did she come to you?"

"No," Olivia admitted. "I sought her out on a tip."

"From whom?"

"Elizabeth Stabler's older sister Kathleen." Best to preempt one of his questions. If she only gave the name, his next question would be whether Kathleen was related to Elizabeth.

"And Kathleen Stabler got the information where?"

"Objection!"

"Approach, Your Honor?" Langan shot back.

She waved them over, covering her microphone. "Mr. Langan?"

"Goes to a pattern of behavior, Your Honor. I believe the source of her information is Richard Stabler - the same Richard Stabler who first reported the rape of his sister."

"Your Honor," Alex protested. "Apart from the sheer absurdity of Mr. Langan's conspiracy theory, unless Detective Benson was present when Richard and Kathleen Stabler spoke, and I don't believe Mr. Langan is alleging that she was, any knowledge she has of this conversation is hearsay. That's inadmissible."

"Agreed, Miss Cabot. Step back. The objection is sustained."

"Did Kathleen Stabler know her sister had been raped when she told you about Miss Jamieson?"

"I don't think so. When we spoke shortly thereafter, she was angry at me for not telling her. Why would she be angry at me for not telling her something she already knew?"

"No further questions for this witness."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated a bit about using Langan in this role, as I know that his character tends to fall into a bit of a gray area and there are other defense attorneys who are portrayed more as bottom-feeders. In the end, though, I decided to go with him, in part because of those very nuances. One of my least favorite things about the L&O franchise, especially in the early years, was the way defense attorneys are portrayed within the system. So, this chapter isn't about Langan being "a bad guy", it's about a trial, in all its nuance.
> 
> Loving the comments, keep 'em coming!


	11. The Closing

"From a young age, children are taught to trust their teachers. Teachers are touted to children as the people they can go to in the cases of parental abuse or problems they can't tell their parents about. And I have no doubt that most teachers deserve the trust that's placed in them. But what happens when that trust is abused?

"What happens is girls like the eight you've heard from over the last few days, victimized and powerless. Girls who didn't feel safe in their own schools. Girls whose only worries should have been who to take to the prom or whether their grades were high enough to get into their choice college instead had to worry about when the next time would be that their teacher would rape them.

"The defense has attempted to get around the evidence, to tell the world that the defendant is innocent despite the fact that he fathered Lisette Jamieson's child, a child conceived more than a year before Miss Jamieson could have legally consented to have sex with the defendant. Despite the fact that Elizabeth Stabler presented with his DNA in her rape kit and far more damage than one would expect for a consensual encounter. Despite the fact that not one, not two, but _eight_ young women he's taught in the past have all said he raped them, and between them their allegations, as the defense would call them, cover almost his entire career at his last school.

"And one must also look at the power structure involved. Our law recognizes that prisoners cannot consent to sex with their guards, because the power the guards have over them impedes their ability to refuse. Although the law in the case of students and teachers is not so absolute, the same principle would seem to apply. Even if his victims didn't physically fight him, he held in his hands control over their futures. The single failing grade he would have given to a girl who refused to comply could ruin her chances at college. A rape victim need not fight her attacker physically for it to be rape. All that must happen is for her to feel that she is not free to refuse sexual intercourse. This man has abused his authority. Send a message to any man who might try to follow in his footsteps that his conduct is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Find this man guilty."

xxxxxxxxx

"Two hours," Alex said as she and Olivia filed back into the courtroom. "Has to be some sort of record on a case with this many counts."

The Stablers were already there. Elizabeth was sitting between her parents, with Richard next to Kathy and Kathleen just in front of them with Lisette. The other victims were all there too, most of them with friends or family of their own. Olivia slipped in next to Elliot as the judge accepted the piece of paper.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have, Your Honor."

"Will the defendant please rise?"

Bakersfield stood.

"On the first count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Moira Greene, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"On the second count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Kendra Harris, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

"On the third count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Lisette Jamieson, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

Kathleen and Lisette embraced each other, and Olivia could see tears in Lisette's eyes.

"On the fourth count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Violet Frye, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

"On the fifth count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Francesca Hamilton, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

"On the sixth count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Hanna Douglas, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

"On the seventh count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Nancy Carter, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

"On the eighth count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Sarah Palmer, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

"And on the ninth count of the indictment, rape in the first degree of Elizabeth Stabler, how do you find?"

"Guilty."

Elliot swept his daughter and his wife into his arms, and Richard and Kathleen joined in, the latter leaning over the back of the bench to do so.

"You did it, baby," he whispered. "You did it. You won."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on a sequel to this with a little more E/O in it (I have a way in mind), but this seemed like a good place to end the story. It seemed only right to end with Elizabeth and her attack since that's where we started
> 
> The piece about prisoners and guards was mentioned in an episode of the original Law & Order; it seemed pertinent, so I included it.


End file.
